Forgotten Portrait: ReCollection
by Joker Extreme
Summary: Five years after her adventure beyond the painting, the memory of Garry lingers in the darkest corners of her mind, and she visits his painting in the museum every day. Now she, as well as the museum's curator, are plunged into the new, more twisted world of Weiss Guertena, and Ib is offered a chance to save the man she once knew. But what price will she have to pay?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Well fans, you've officially twisted my arm! Ever since I put up Chapter 2 to my _Epilogue of Ib _story, people have been asking me to follow it up with a new story! I really had no intention to do so, but your requests really got the gears turning! The first chapter here is an extended version of the original epilogue. Look forward to original material and, like you wanted, a full-length story of my epilogue to _Forgotten Portrait!_

* * *

The museum curator spends her time every day making rounds in the museum. Despite the security guards and the cameras, she feels more comfortable inspecting each work of art and investigating suspicious figures herself. Many of her coworkers poke fun at her for this, but she always responds the same way: "This is my museum."

Some of her favorite works to pass by are the ones from famed artist Weiss Guertena. She was especially proud the time her museum was chosen for an exhibition of his work. Since then, many of Guertena's paintings and sculptures have been lost to high-class auctions and other museums, but she has managed to keep a few of her favorites.

As she passes by one of the paintings, she spots a familiar face: a teenage girl with semi-long brown hair red eyes. She's wearing a sleeveless red shirt, white pants and a backpack. The curator recognizes her right away, not only from her clothes and face, but also the lemon-flavored lollipop in her mouth.

"Ib, how many times have I told you that food is strictly forbidden in the museum?" Startled, Ib turns to the curator. She then quickly glances at the lollipop in her mouth. With a guilty look on her face, she takes out, revealing an empty stick.

"Oh, Ib…" She stops in front of the painting beside Ib. "You know, I've seen you in front of this exact same painting every day for the past five years. Honestly, have you ever looked at any of the other works in the museum?" Ib pauses to think for a moment, then shrugs. "Right." They both turn back to the painting. It depicts a young man in a torn blue coat. He's leaned himself against the wall, but is hunched over, as if asleep.

"Weiss Guertena's _Forgotten Portrait_." The curator states proudly. It's her most prized possession at the museum. "I'm sure you've read about it, Ib. Well, at least you've read about as much as you possibly could. There's very little information about it; only that Guertena is responsible for its existence. There isn't even a proper year of origin. Notice the clothes? Although worn out, it's obvious that they're modern; clothes that shouldn't have existed in Guertena's lifetime. To this day, art enthusiasts are baffled as to what Guertena used as a reference for this painting. That's what makes it so valuable."

Ib continues to admire the painting. "He seems…sad."

"Yes, he does. That's another one of this painting's mysteries." The curator says, with a hint of pity in her tone. "There are hundreds of different theories. Some say that Guertena had lost a lover at the time. Others say it was his first work that he discarded because he didn't think he'd make it as an artist. What do you think of it, Ib?"

"…I think…that he doesn't want to be forgotten."

"What do you mean?"

"He wants to be remembered. People forgot about him, and he's sad because of it."

"Well, he did become a famous artist. I think he _is_ well remembered." The curator says with a chuckle.

Ib shakes her head. "No. Not Guertena. I'm talking about the boy in the painting."

"Hm?" The curator laughs. "That may be true as well! But what makes you say that?"

Ib pauses. "I think…I know him."

"The boy?"

"I think I met him a long time ago…but I can't remember who he is."

The curator can't help but laugh a little. "You sure have a wild imagination, Ib! But I like that! You have a good heart."

Ib turns to the curator and smiles. "Thank you, ma'am." She says with a soft, slightly embarrassed tone.

"You're quite welcome!" Eve pauses for a moment, then takes Ib by the hand. "Come with me, Ib. If you like Guertena, I'm sure you'll love this other work of his!"

Ib stares at the large mural. It's mostly black, but has several different features. Ib looks to one corner and sees a painting within the painting of a woman in a red dress. Another corner has a red rose. "What's this one?"

"It's called _Fabricated World._ It's truly a fascinating one. It's said that artists do what they do in order to escape their own lives. This is Guertena's interpretation of that idea. The detail on this one is astounding. It's as if Guertena truly wanted the viewer to experience what he did so long ago."

Ib examines the painting closely. "That's _The Lady in Red,_ right?" she asks, pointing to the lower right corner of the painting. "And that's _Embodiment of Spirit_."

"So you _have_ seen the other works here at the museum!" the curator says with a smile.

Ib begins to examine the painting's details. "This is like Guertena's legacy. He has so many other works, but this one is a culmination of all of them. If you wanted to explore the mind of Weiss Guertena, all you needed to do was look into this painting."

The curator seems astonished. "My, Ib, you really have a knack for this! You remind me of when _I_ was your age!" All of a sudden an idea pops into her head. "Say, Ib. You may be a little young, but what would you think about working here as my personal assistant?"

Ib gasps and turns to the curator in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes! You could help me watch over the museum, and you could even help out with tour guides! What do you say?"

"You'd really let me do that?"

"Well, of course! This is my museum, after all! I want the best and brightest helping me out! Just talk it over with your parents."

Ib squeals excitedly before embracing the curator. "Thank you, ma'am."

The curator laughs. "Oh, you don't have to call me 'ma'am'. That makes me sound old! Besides, you come around here so often, I'm surprised we're not already good friends!"

Ib looks at the curator curiously. "So what should I call you then?"

She smiles at Ib. "You can just call me Eve."

At that moment, the lights in the museum begin to flicker. "Hm?" Eve looks around curiously. "That's never happened before." She thinks out loud as she takes out a walkie-talkie and holds it up to her mouth. "Anyone else see that? Someone go check the circuit breaker." She waits for a moment, but no one responds. "Security?" Still no response. "Hello? Hello, anyone? _Hello!_"

Ib looks at Eve. "Is something wrong?"

Eve places the walkie-talkie back at her side. "I'm not sure…" She looks around curiously, not finding anything out of the ordinary. Then she looks at _Fabricated World_, and notices something. A small amount of blue paint has spilled out, seemingly from behind the frame. "What is that...?" She moves in closer to examine it.

"…This place…"

"Hm? What did you say, Ib?"

"I think…I've been here before…" She gasps in shock and falls to the ground, grabbing her head. Images begin leaking into her memory. Images of mazes and moving statues and different colored plush bunnies. But the most powerful memories are those of a young man, the one featured in her favorite painting, _Forgotten Portrait._

Ib begins to let out a small whisper. "His name…is Gar-"_*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*_

"Wah!" Eve falls backward in shock. "Wh-What in the world was that!"

"…"Ib remains in silence, then slowly turns her gaze downward to the floor.

Eve turns to Ib. "Ib? What are you looking at?" she looks down as well. "Ah!" To her surprise, Eve sees a series of red letters splayed out on the floor.

"WELCOME BACK"

"'Welcome back'?" she turns to Ib. "Ib, what is this!"

Ib is still in shock. "I…" _*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*_

"Again!" The two look back down on the floor. "Huh?"

"…"

"DO YOU WANT TO SAVE HIM?"

Eve reads the message to herself. "Ib, is it referring to you…?"

"I…! Ah!" Ib collapses onto the ground and grabs her head. Images begin flashing in her mind, and she screams in pain.

"Ib!" Eve runs to her side and places her hands on Ib's shoulders. "Ib, are you all right?"

The next one to speak is neither Ib nor Eve the curator. "Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! My darling Ib, it's been ages! Just look how much you've grown!" The voice surrounds them as the museum seems to fade away, leaving the two girls in a black void.

Eve cradles the suffering Ib in her arms. "Who's there?" she cries.

"I was beginning to think you'd never come back, but here you are!" the voice says. It seems to be enjoying itself immensely. "Honestly, it's sooo boring here without someone like you around. And you even brought a new friend! This is so exciting, a new game has finally begun!"

"What are you talking about?" Eve asks, trying desperately to hide her fear. "Show yourself right now, you brute!"

The voice laughs again. "Now, now, Eve, no need to be so rude." He says calmly. "Ah, but you're right, I haven't formally introduced myself. Allow me to do so right now." At that moment, what seems to be a spotlight shines down from above them. After the girls regain their composure, they look to where the light has shone.

The spotlight is focusing down on a young man, no older than his twenties. He's wearing a nice blue suit and blazer, as well as sporting a top hat and cane, whose head is a white crystal rose. He removes his hat and bows to them, revealing his raven black hair and blue highlights like a spider resting on his head. He finally lifts his head to them and looks at the girls with calm, blood-red eyes.

"I…am Weiss Guertena." He says, smiling. "It's a pleasure."


	2. Chapter 2

Eve stares speechlessly at the man claiming to be Weiss Guertena, the artist that she's admired for years. "D...Don't be ridiculous!" she yells in disbelief. "Weiss Guertena's been dead for decades!"

The man claiming to be Guertena merely chuckles as he places his hat back on his head. "Is an artist not one who seeks their own immortality? Who strives to create a legacy that will last long after they have passed away?" He tosses his cane into the air. "Well Eve, my dear, that's exactly what I have done." He says as he catches the cane with barely even a thought.

"That doesn't explain anything!" Eve replies.

Guertena lifts up a finger facing Eve, and waves it side to side. "Tsk, tsk. And you call yourself a fan. Consider this, won't you? _It's said that spirits dwell in objects into which people put their feelings_. _I've always thought that, if that's true, then the same must be true of artwork._"

Eve blinks in surprise. She remembers these words. She's memorized them. "_So today, I shall immerse myself in work, so as to impart my own spirit into my creations…_"

Guertena sneers. "That's right, Eve…"

Eve clenches her hand into a fist. "How…HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THOSE WORDS?!" she screams.

"Because, my sweet Eve…" Guertena reaches into the inner breast pocket of his coat and pulls out a small, crumbling book. "…it's an entry in my diary."

Eve looks at the book in utter shock.

"Ha-ha, no need to be so surprised, Eve. An artist with my talent, did you not think I'd be able to succeed?" Guertena places the book back in his breast pocket and snaps his fingers. At that moment, the three find themselves in a black hallway filled with Weiss Guertena's works. And each one of them is alive. "What you see before you—and no doubt the things you will soon see—are all things that I, the great Weiss Guertena, have created in my lifetime! I have created a world in which not only my legacy, but my very _soul _can live on for all eternity!" He begins to laugh almost uncontrollably.

However, Eve can hardly hear him. She's completely distracted by the living works around them. _The Lady in Red…Death of the Individual…_they are all works that she's admired. And she sees other things. Black hands clawing at her…a menacing blue face…everything around the two girls is thrashing violently and hungrily at them.

And at the floor in front of them was a massive pool of dark water that wasn't there before. And Eve saw what fascinated and terrified her most about Weiss Guertena. Swimming in the abyss was a massive lantern fish, its eyes gaping black, its teeth like thin blades. And the fish takes notice of the woman paralyzed in utter fear. The fish sees its prey. And it lunges. And she screams.

But with another snap of Guertena's fingers, it all vanishes, and the three of them are once again in a black void of nothingness. He chuckles again. "Do you understand now?" he asks.

Eve can't find the strength to answer. She can barely even move, save for an uncontrollable quiver of fear. Desperately, she has her arms wrapped tightly around Ib, who is still in pain. And tears won't stop streaming from Eve's eyes.

"But of course, you don't have to take my word for it." He says. "After all, your little friend has been here once before. Isn't that right…Ib?" he asks as he points his cane at the girl in Eve's arms.

Ib, whose head has just now started to reorient herself, looks at Guertena with a blank expression. "I…" Ib tries to register what he means. She can't remember him or being in the place they are now. She tries to remember, but a sharp pain runs through her head.

Guertena lets out a disappointing sigh. "You really don't remember do you?" he asks sadly. "Well, it doesn't matter, I suppose. I'm sure it'll come back to you in due time..."

Eve swallows, trying to quell her fear enough to move again. She motions her lips to speak, but it comes out as a quivering whisper. "W-What do you want from us…?"

Guertena smiles, and it makes Eve jump a bit. "I just want to play a game. People still like games in the real world, right? And I know you'll want to play...especially if you want to go back home. And Ib…if you win, you can save him. You can save the forgotten portrait."

Ib looks at Guertena once more. His last words seem to have caught her attention. She has no idea who the man in the portrait is, but after so many years of staring at him, she feels a connection, a bond stronger than almost anyone else she's ever known. She feels...deep down in her heart…that she needs to save him. "Do you mean it? I can really save the man in the painting?"

Guertena nods. "But only if you both agree to play."

Ib looks at Eve, who is still frozen in fear, waiting for an answer. Eve looks back to her, speechlessly affirming their answer.

Ib then turns back to Guertena. "We'll play." She says with complete confidence.

"Splendid!" he says with a smile. "Oh, I've been waiting for this for ages." Guertena takes his hat, reaches into it, and pulls out a small, yet long box. "This is yours, Ib." He tosses the box. It lands gracefully on the ground in front of them.

Ib hesitates for a moment, then opens the box. Inside is a single rose, but the color was unlike anything either of the two girls recognized. In fact, there wasn't any color at all. The petals are perfectly clear, almost like glass. Carefully, Ib takes the rose.

"And of course, we need one for Eve as well. " Guertena reaches into his hat once more and takes out a rose with pitch black petals. They were almost invisible in the black void. He tosses it to Eve, who barely even notices it. "You probably won't have remembered this from before, but you and the rose are unified. Know the weight of your own life. When the rose rots, so too will you rot away."

Ib examines the rose carefully. "So if these roses lose their petals…we'll die?"

Once again, Guertena smiles his bone-chilling smile. "You'll lose." He raises a finger in the air. "However, young Ib, your rose is special. Right now your rose has no color. Although it still functions normally, it's a ghost of what it should be. That's where our little game comes in. The rules are simple: scattered all around my world are the rose's red hues; its true petals, if you will. Your task in this game will be to collect all of them. Of course, whatever denizens that lurk will be out to destroy your roses or otherwise impede your progress. But if you manage to collect all of the true petals and make your rose whole again, you will have the power to save your friend and get back home." He pauses for a short moment. "Ahhh, that felt good! I had that all rehearsed for years, and I finally have an audience!" He turns to the girls. "What did you think?" he asks.

Ib ignores the question, and Eve remains frozen. "What happens if we lose?" Ib asks.

"Well, that won't be a problem. I'll have tons of more games to play. And we'll have the rest of eternity to play them in…"

Ib swallows, trying not to show fear.

"Well then, it seems you're all set. I'll be watching your progress and checking in every now and then." Guertena raises his hand, ready to snap his fingers. "As soon as I leave, the game will begin. Good luck, ladies…" He snaps and in an instant, he's gone. At the same time, the black void that Ib and Eve were in has changed back into the museum they came from, facing _Abyss of the Deep._ The velvet rope surrounding it has been cut off at one point. In front of the open section is a message in blue paint. "GAME START"

After a short moment, Ib removes herself from Eve's arms, and she examines the ghostly rose in her hands. She then turns to Eve, who is hunched over on the floor.

"Miss Eve?" Ib asks. "Are you all right?"

She can't speak. The images of what just occurred are racing through her head, and she can't even begin to process any of them, let alone the fact that Weiss Guertena, the man whose work she's admired for years, is a deranged lunatic. Eve fights through tears saying, "What is this…_what the hell is this!? _This can't be happening…I'm no one special…why is this happening to me…we're going to die…we're going to die! WE'RE GOING TO DI-" Without a second thought, Ib raises her hand and slaps Eve across the face.

"…" Ib stops for a moment to look at her hand. She had never done something like that before, but it felt almost familiar. She thought about doing it once more for good measure, but instead she decides to turn to Eve and speak to her. "Please calm down, Miss Eve." She says calmly.

Once more, Eve is at a loss for words. She takes a moment to try and collect herself, then turns to Ib. "What is wrong with you!?" she yells, rubbing her cheek. "Didn't you learn to never strike your elders!?"

"You were getting hysterical. We're not going to get out of here if you can't keep it together." Ib smiles.

"Ib…" Eve slowly removes her glasses and wipes the tears from her eyes. "You're right, Ib. I'm so sorry. I'm not usually like that, it's just..." She looks down and notices the black rose at her side. "…This is really happening…isn't it? We're really in another world…and Weiss Guertena…is a madman who wants to keep us here."

"It's hard to believe." Ib places her rose in her pocket. "But right now, we have to focus on winning this dumb game and getting home."

"I know, but..." Eve starts to remember the black hallway again, and she holds herself. "I'm so scared..."

Ib puts out a hand to help Eve up. "It's okay…I'm scared, too." she says as she smiles softly.

After a moment, Eve chuckles. "You could've fooled me." She takes Ib's hand as Ib pulls her up. "Thank you, Ib. If…when we get out of here, I think you'll make a wonderful assistant."

Ib smiles again. "Thanks, Miss Eve."

Eve takes her rose and puts it away, and the two girls walk around the painting, stopping at the game's start point. "Oh, Ib…before I forget." She turns to her. "Guertena…he was saying something—well, lots of things—that I didn't quite understand. But he spoke to you as if he's met you before."

"…"

"This may sound insane, but have you…been here before…?"

Ib remains silent and turns away from Eve to stare into the abyss. She has no thoughts in her head, no memories of anything like this. All she can think about is the forgotten portrait. She can almost see him in the water. "I…I'm not sure…"

Eve sighs disappointedly, although she wasn't sure what she was expecting. "Well, for now, we should just focus on the game."

"…Yeah…" They both stare into the abyss together. They're both scared, unsure of what awaits them. Before they leap, they take each other's hands.

"Are you ready, Miss Eve?"

"…Not really."

And they both jump in.


	3. Chapter 3

The two girls land at the top of a narrow staircase. Cautiously, and still hand-in-hand, they walk down together, arriving at a hallway covered in blue, save for two paintings on either side of them.

"Ugh…this place gives me the creeps already…" Eve says with a shudder. She looks down both ends of the hallway, then looks at Ib. "Which way do you think we should go first?" she asks.

"Let's try going to the right." Ib says, although she's unsure about her answer.

"Right it is." They walk to the right, approaching a blue door at the end. Eve approaches it cautiously, her hand slowly inching toward the doorknob. She turns it, but it barely budges. "Locked…well, let's try the other side then." They begin walking down the long hallway. Eve lets out a long sigh. "What a relief. I shudder to think what might be behind any door in this place…"

Before long, they reach the door on the other side of the hallway. This time, Ib is the one to reach for the knob.

"Wait!" Eve stops her before she can open it. "It may not be safe."

"No…it should be fine." Ib says confidently, although she wonders how she could possibly know that. She begins to turn the knob and push open the door. "Besides, the game's only started. How hard could it possibly-"

"Watch out!" As Ib opens the door, Eve grabs her and pulls her back.

"What happened, Miss Eve?"

"Look…" Eve points inside the room. They both look beyond the door, and see a large black pit, leading down to nothingness. Across the room are several sections of floor stretching horizintally from wall to wall, and down on the other side are two larger sections, both with a small table, one with a key and the other with a small box. Behind the tables is a wall bearing a large painting of a woman whose hair falls out of the frame. "That was a close call."

"A pit?" Ib steps in onto the little floor that they have in the room and looks down into the black void. "I don't remember this being here…"

Eve looks at her questioningly. "Does that mean you _have _been here before, Ib?"

"I…I'm still not sure…sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, Ib. Let's just focus on this." Eve looks down with her into the pit. "Geez…how are we supposed to even _try _to get across? Those sections of floor are too far apart to jump…" She looks around the hallway. "And it doesn't seem like there's anything we can use as a bridge, either…"

Ib takes a moment to examine the blackness. Something was off to her. Weiss Guertena was crazy, that much she knew. But for some reason, she didn't believe that he would set up a game where they had no chance of winning. If he went to so much trouble to create a game to play, he'd make it fair for both sides He'd surely make it difficult, but not impossible.

"What do you think, Ib?" Eve asks.

Ib realized that they only had two options: either they could try to find another way, or she'd take a chance right here…and take a step into the pit. After a moment of consideration, Ib decides to take one step into the room.

"Ib, what are you doing!?" Eve exclaims as she reaches her hand out.

Barely hearing her, Ib leans forward.

"IB!"

Before Ib can start to fall, her foot lands on something solid. "Huh?" Ib takes another step, and the floor directly beneath her cracks.

Eve looks on in awe. "Ib…how did you…" At that moment, the floor before them shines, revealing several glass tiles leading all the way across the room, and branching off in the middle to create two separate paths to the other side.

"Wh…what is this…?" Eve asks as she stares in wonder. "A glass bridge?"

"…" Ib continues to walk forward. As she steps away from the first glass tile, it shatters behind her and the shards fall into the void. Hearing the glass, Ib looks back. "Hm…" Ib steps onto another tile, and the previous one shatters, just like the first. "It looks like each tile breaks as we step away from it…"

"That's not all," Eve says, pointing ahead. "Look over there."

Ib looks ahead to see several square-shaped holes that don't shine like the glass tiles on the floor.

"It looks like there are still places where we can fall. It's more difficult than it looks…and how are we supposed to get back once we make it across?"

"…We have no choice but to find out." Ib says, she hoped with enough confidence in her voice. "There aren't enough tiles for one person to make two separate trips. You go for the key. I'll get the box."

"Huh?!" Eve exclaims. "You actually want me to try and _cross _this thing?! Ib, there's no way I ca-" Ib completely ignores her complaints and continues moving forward. "H-Hey, Ib!"

Carefully yet swiftly, Ib makes her way across the glass bridge. At every checkpoint, she stops to take notice of the next area, planning out her route before she moves. Each section is harder than the last. Despite a few minor slip-ups and close calls, Ib manages to make it all the way to the other side. Difficult, as she thought. But not impossible. She turns to face Eve. "Miss Eve, it's fine! You can cross the bridge easily!"

"What!?" Eve screams. "I can't hear you!"

Ib motions her to come over, then points to the other table next to her.

Eve shakes her head violently. "Are you crazy, Ib!? I'm not going over there!" After that, Ib doesn't say anything. She only locks eyes with Eve, giving her a stern look.

"Gah! Ib, don't look at me like that…" Ib remains stalwart in her gaze. Eve tries to look away. However, she could still feel Ib staring her down. "_I can't believe that I'm falling behind a little kid…"_ she thinks to herself. She looks back to Ib, who hasn't moved an inch. Eve lets out a long sigh, and then begins to remove her high-heels. "Well, we're not going to get anywhere if I don't do my part." She looks to the ground and swallows before taking an unnecessarily long step onto the first tile.

Eve takes her time lowering her foot. "Just take it…nice and slow…" she says to herself. "Nice…and…" The tip of her big toe brushes the glass. "Eek!" In no time at all, Eve zips past the glass bridge without skipping a beat, and makes it to the other table, nearly crashing into the wall. Eve rests her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She then looks over to Ib and gives her a thumbs-up.

Ib chuckles lightly, then returns the gesture. In all the years they've seen each other, Ib never thought of her as the physical type. She was glad that she had a friend that she could readily depend on, even if they were a little scared. She was happy…

"Ah!" A flash of pain runs through Ib, and she grabs her head.. Ib slowly starts to picture someone she knew. The person was scared out of their wits at the smallest things, but also helped Ib out of a lot of pinches. It was then that Ib suddenly felt sad. She feels deep down that she could trust her life to this person, but she can't even picture their face.

"Ib!"

"Eh?" Ib looks over to Eve, who has the key in her hands. She seems to be pointing down at her table.

"Hm?" Ib looks down at the table seeing nothing else but the small wooden box in front of her. She takes the box from the table and to her surprise; she finds a small button indented into the tabletop. She turns once again to Eve, who shrugs and presses the button. Ib looks down and, after placing the box into her backpack, decides to press her own button as well. Instantly, a rumbling occurs around them and from the black void, pillars begin to shoot up, and the pit is replaced by the same blue carpet as the hallways outside.

"Ah!" Eve exclaims! "Ib, we did it!" They run to each other and high-five. "Hah, that was easy enough! I hope the rest of the game is like this!" The two smile at the thought. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they knew that it was only going to get harder.

"Thief…"

"Huh?" Eve looks around them. "Ib, did you say that?" Ib shakes her head.

"Thieffffff…"

Realizing the only other place it could've come from, the two girls slowly look over to the painting in the room. The woman's eyes have become large and demonic, her hair wild. And she slowly begins to emerge from the frame.

"_THIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEF!" _The woman then flies out of the painting, her hands extended.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Eve screams her lungs out while Ib's eyes widen. Immediately, the girls start running for the exit, and the floor once again begins to crumble behind them. The woman immediately gives chase.

"Giveitbackgiveitbackgiveitba ckgiveitbackgiveitbackgiveit backgiveitbackgiveitbackgive itbackgiveitbackgiveitbackgi veitbackgiveitbackgiveitback giveitbackgiveitbackgiveitba ckgiveitback_GIVEITBAAAAAAAAACK!" _The woman reaches out with her claw-like hand and swings it at Eve, nicking her back with an extended fingernail.

Eve screams out in pain, but it hasn't slowed her down. The fear and adrenaline rushing through her outmatches her fear. They both continue running. "_Ib, get the door behind you!"_

"Right!" As they approach the exit, Ib reaches out for the door.

"You'll never win!" The woman screams from behind them. "Do you hear me!? Thieves never win! You'll stay here and you'll pay for your crimes for the rest of eterni-"

The two girls turn around. "SHUT UP!" they yell in unison. They run out of the room and Ib slams the door closed behind them. The next second, they both grab the doorknob and pull tightly. An immense pounding comes from the other side, but the girls hold their ground. The pounding goes on for several more seconds, and then slowly comes to a stop.

Eve pants heavily. "Is…is it done?"

"I…I think it's okay now." Ib says.

"…" At the same time, they both loosen their grip on the knob. After few more seconds of waiting, they finally start to relax as they fall backward onto the floor.

Eve takes several breaths before speaking again. "Ib…could you check my back, please? I think she got me just a little…"

"Okay." Eve turns over on her stomach, and Ib examines her back. "Your blazer's torn…but there's no blood or anything."

Eve takes a few more breaths and takes out her rose. She sees a noticeable difference in size from before. "…I guess there are fewer petals on this thing, huh?" She puts the flower away and turns onto her back again. "I don't think I can take much more of this…"

"We've only just started, though."

"I know…" Eve says with a tone of sadness in her voice. "That's the worst part…" He clenches her fist and hits the floor next to her. "Damn that Guertena guy…who does he think he is, playing with people like this? It isn't right!"

"…Miss Eve, can I ask you a question?"

Eve turns to her. "Of course."

"Before, when…when Guertena quoted that line from his diary…you got really riled up. What happened? Why did that get to you so badly?"

"…" Eve looks up to the ceiling.

Ib stops as well. "Miss Eve?"

"...It's because there are only a handful of people who should know those words."

"What do you mean?" Ib asked.

"…My parents died in an accident when I was still a baby. I was at my grandpa's at the time, and I lived with him ever since. I hardly even knew my mom and dad at all…"

Ib looks shocked. She wonders if she should've asked at all. "I'm sorry…"

Eve chuckles. "That's all right. It was a long time ago. Anyway, I heard from my grandpa that they had a love for art. They were co-curators of a museum, just like I am. And they were absolutely obsessed with Weiss Guertena, just like…just like I was." Eve reaches into a breast pocket and pulls out a small picture. "When I grew up a bit, my grandfather gave me one of their most prized possessions: a manuscript copy of Weiss Guertena's diary. It's the only record of his thoughts that was never lost over the years. I memorized those entries from beginning to end. It was my way of being close to the parents that I never knew…" Eve clenches her fist again. "Weiss Guertena…if that's really him, then my parents spent their whole lives worshiping a madman. Next time I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind…"

Ib smiles. There seemed to be just a little more resolve in her voice. She inches closer to look at the picture. There was a man and woman, both with big smiles on their faces. The woman has a small baby cradled in her arms.

"That's me," Eve says, pointing at the baby. "Little baby Evelyn. People like Eve better because it's shorter to say, but that's my full name." She turns to Ib. "Say, Ib…which name would you rather call me?"

Ib thought for a moment, weighing her two options. "I think…I like Miss Evelyn better."

Eve looks at her strangely. "Hm? You really like Evelyn? Heh…my grandfather was the only one that liked to call me that…" She smiles at Ib. "But if you like it too, that's just fine!"

Ib didn't say anything else. She only smiled back.

"Oh, look at me sharing my life story with someone I barely even know…" Evelyn blushes a little as she puts her picture away. "There are more pressing matters. Let's take a look inside that box."

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Ib quickly reaches into her backpack and pulls out the wooden box. Slowly she places her hand on the top, and she feels a strange sense of familiarity emanating from it. Evelyn moves over next to Ib and after exchanging glances, Ib opens the box.

"What is that…?" Evelyn asked. Ib said nothing in response. Inside the box was a single drop floating in the air. It gives off a bright, warm red light. Looking at it, Ib feels just a little more at home.

Then, as if compelled by instinct, Ib pulls out her ghostly rose. As soon as she does, the drop shoots up into the air and straight back down onto the rose, making Evelyn jump a little.

"Wh-what just happened?!" Evelyn yelled in surprise.

Again Ib remains silent. She's become entranced at the warm light that now emanates from the rose. The light slowly dims down, and all that remains of it is a single petal on the rose that are now a beautiful shade of red.

"The petal!" Evelyn exclaimed "It's got color now!"

Ib begins to open her mouth to speak, her eyes still fixed on the rose. "I…I think…!" Before she can continue, Ib's mind becomes flooded. Memories she never knew she had begun pouring into her head. She sees terrifying things; things that could only be born from nightmares. She begins to remember the feeling of pure fear, and she raises her head in a silent scream.

"_IB!_" Evelyn begins shaking her. "Ib, are you okay?!"

Ib says nothing for the longest time. Her eyes are still wide from the revelation. "I…I _have_ been here before…" she whispers.

"What?"

Ib looks at her rose. "I r-remember…the things here are…th-they were chasing me and…they're…they're…!" She's on the verge of tears.

Evelyn places her hands on Ib's shoulders. "Ib, look at me. You're okay. Do you hear me?"

After a while Ib nods, although she's still shivering. "The things here are dangerous…we have to be very careful…"

Evelyn chuckles. "Well, that goes without saying." She takes another look at Ib's rose. "So I guess the petals there are somehow related to your memories, huh?" Evelyn comes to a conclusion, and she frowns. "Ib…if we are to win this game, and if we're to make sense of any of this...we'll have to find more of those. And it might uncover some more unpleasant things. Will you be all right?"

"…If it means getting us both out of here…then I have no choice."

"Ib…" She pats Ib on the head. "You're a very brave girl, you know that? I still think you're handling this better than I am."

Ib smiles again. "…Thanks."

"Heh…now let's go." Evelyn and Ib help each other up and they walk together. Eventually they reach the other side of the hallway and approach the locked door. Evelyn takes out the key that she retrieved, places it into the keyhole and turns. They both hear a click.

Evelyn smiles. "Perfect fit." She turns to Ib one more time. "Last chance. Are you sure you're okay to keep going?" Ib nods. "Okay, then." She opens the door, which leads into a green room. The walls are completely covered in bright green vines, almost as if they were the walls themselves. "Let's keep on going. Oh, what's this?" Evelyn approaches a sign posted directly in front of them and reads it aloud. "_Beware the edges…_I wonder what that means…" She continues to move forward.

Ib blinks in surprise. All of a sudden, she remembered something about this room. "Uh…Miss Evelyn…?"

* * *

Deep down in the forgotten corners of Weiss Guertena's world lies a room barely known to even the other inhabitants. In that room, the artist placed all of his discarded works, things he locked away because they were ugly, forgettable, or simply forgotten. The contents of the room, the unfinished works that reside in the cramped space are barely even alive, devoid of meaning or purpose. Their moans echo through the halls, yet remain unheard for all of eternity.

It is here that a small ant has nearly completed his journey. Normally the ant scuttles by unnoticed by the rest of the paintings, and he's free to come and go anywhere he pleases, slipping through cracks. The ant has travelled a long time to reach this forgotten room, repeating the message in his head the whole way. He slips right under the door without skipping a beat in his stride, and searches the room. He does his best to ignore the unfinished paintings and incomplete statues around him. Even though he is a mere ant, he can't help but pity them. He removes them from his thoughts, as he has found who he is looking for.

The ant approaches a man—or what appears to be one—sitting huddled in a corner, his body covered in a worn, tattered cloak. One would have easily mistaken him for another statue.

"They're here." The ant says softly. "It's our one and only chance."

The man raises his head only slightly. "Thank you, little one." He says with a voice even softer and weaker than the ant's. The man places his hand on the floor, and the ant crawls its way up his arm to rest on his shoulder. "You've been a great help to me, and I am sure you will continue to be in the immediate future." Without another word, the man gets up, walks briskly to the door, and leaves the room of discarded memories.


	4. Chapter 4

Deep in his own little room, Weiss Guertena has made his home. He's decorated it with a few of his favorite works, and he keeps a nice chair in the center (he's taken to calling it his throne). Next to his throne is a small coffee table with a bowl full of apples. On one side of the room is a large white screen. Weiss Guertena takes an apple and spins around the room with it. He's happier than he's ever been.

"Ahhhhh, this is the most fun I've had in years! Not since she came last time have things around here been so exciting! Aren't you having fun too?" He pauses, as if waiting for an answer from someone, even though he's by himself. "…Oh, who cares how slow they're going? At least they're getting the job done, right? And it's so much fun to see them scared out of their wits! _Ah-ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! _…Okay, I'm calm."

Another pause. "HEY!" he screams in anger as he throws his apple at the wall, causing the apple to splinter. "Who do you think you are?! You have _no _right to talk to me like that! Why, why, _why_ does every little conversation with you have to be so IRRITATING!? …Shut up! Shut up, shut up, _SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE BITCH! SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH! _If you don't shut your mouth _right now_, I wi-"

One more abrupt pause. Without warning, Guertena is down on his knees, on the verge of tears. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I didn't mean it!" he begs. After one more pause, he raises himself up with a smile. "Great! All's well that ends well! …Ah! I almost forgot about our guest. See what our petty arguments do? …Oh, now you're just being a baby." He skips to the other side of the room, where a young man lays motionless inside a glass coffin. The coffin is decorated with blue roses.

"Poor thing…you must be so lonely…just you wait. Soon, we'll be play to play all kinds of games together. Soon…" He looks over to the screen, which has begun projecting an image of Ib and Evelyn. "Soon…"

* * *

There is a long hallway where the only works of Guertena that can be found are a series of paintings. These paintings depict a guillotine, and each successive painting shows it rising ever higher. And at the end of this hallway, Ib and Evelyn stare each other down. Evelyn has a very determined look on her face, while Ib retains her usual passive disposition. Both of them have a hand clenched into a fist. Their gazes remain locked on each other, like two predators fighting for the same prey.

"I won't lose this time." Evelyn says. Ib says nothing in response. "Don't try to act confident. You think you're so tough, but in the end, you're just some cocky little kid."

"…Are you going to keep stalling or are we going to do this?"

That sends Evelyn off the roof. "_That's it, you little brat! THIS ENDS NOW!_"Evelyn readies her hand, raising it high into the air. "One…two…THREE!" She thrusts her hand in front of her, opening it wide.

"Scissors beats paper, Miss Evelyn." Ib says confidently. "I win again."

"Aaaaargh! Why, _why _do I keep losing!?" she gets down on her knees. "Come on Ib, best two out of three, what do you say?"

"Sorry, Miss Evelyn, but fair's fair. We agreed on one match and one match only. You have to open the door."

Evelyn crosses her arms and pouts. "I've been losing at this dumb game and opening doors and leading down creepy hallways this whole time! All of them! Me! How is that fair?"

"Do you want me to open it?" Ib asked.

"…" Evelyn lets out a long sigh. "It's fine, I'll get it. You won fair and square." She says reluctantly as she approaches the door in front of them. She swallows before placing her hand on the doorknob. She takes her time turning the door and even more time opening it.

Ib peeks out from behind Evelyn. "How's it look?" she asks.

Beyond the door is just another hallway. No paintings, no statues. The only thing inside is another door at the end. "It…looks all right, actually. Let's get going. Finally, I can relax a bit…" Evelyn takes a few steps forward and before she can take another, a humongous guillotine descends from above at an extremely high speed. It lands with a large shockwave and cuts right into the floor.

Ib jumps back in surprise. "Miss Evelyn, are you okay!?" she yells.

"…" The guillotine has landed mere inches away from Evelyn's face. Slowly it rises back up into the ceiling, leaving Evelyn unharmed. Her face is frozen in open-mouthed shock and fear.

"…Miss Evelyn?"

"…" She immediately faints and falls backward onto the floor.

* * *

After Evelyn comes to, she and Ib proceed walking down the hallway. Ib walks normally as Evelyn trails behind, her head hanging and her arms limp.

"Geez…we've opened who knows how many doors, gone through who knows how many puzzles, run into who knows how many monsters, and what do we have to show for it?" she places two fingers on her neck to check her pulse. "…A continuously increasing heart rate." She sighs as she takes out her rose, whose black petals have been fully restored. "At least we found those vases that restore out petals. Of course, mine aren't that important. We haven't found a single Red Drop since that first room…"

She raises her head slightly to Ib. "Ib, are you sure you can't remember anything else? Anything that could give us a clue or our next move or something?"

Still walking, Ib closes her eyes and tries to think. "…Sorry, but I can't. The memories I got back are all jumbled up in my head. I can hardly piece any of together. And the small bits that are even slightly coherent don't help because this place has changed so much since then. Sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize, Ib." Evelyn says, smiling. "That just means that beating this game is going to take a little longer…"

Ib nods as they reach the door. "Should we play again?"

"It's okay, Ib. I'll get it." She opens the door, this time with more courage than before. Both of their jaws drop.

Beyond the door lies a room the size of a football field, filled with bookshelves. The shelves are arranged in several columns, stretching all the way down to the other side. In the middle of the center two columns are rows of desks with a circular counter in the center.

Evelyn turns her head in all directions. "Is this…a library?"

Ib looks around for herself. "Look." She points at a small sign posted on one of the walls. The girls walk up to it and Ib starts reading it aloud. "_Welcome to the library. You are free to browse at your leisure. If you would like to check out a book, please consult a librarian for assistance and have your library card ready. Those caught stealing books will be severely reprimanded."_

"A library card?" Evelyn asked curiously. "Where are we supposed to get that?"

"There's more." Ib said, reading the bottom. "_Books can grant you knowledge, but can the same be true the other way around?_"

Evelyn scratches her head. "What does that mean?"

"Who knows...?" Ib replied as she started walking down one of the bookshelves. "At any rate, we should check this place thoroughly. I'm sure we can find something useful in here."

"Ah! Good thinking, Ib!" Ib smiles at Evelyn as she takes out a random book and starts flipping through the pages. She then opens to a picture of a demonic claw. Immediately after, the claw bursts from the page and lunges at her, scratching at her and making Ib fall back and drop the book.

"Ib!"

Ib's a little shaken, but she pulls herself up quickly. "We probably have to watch out for stuff like that, though…"

* * *

Ib takes out a book entitled _Carrie Careless and the Galette de Rois._ She reads the first few pages before realizing that she already knew the story. She closed the book and placed it back on the shelf, then immediately looked around her to see if any more had stuck out. Nothing. Sighing, Ib took out the next book.

Evelyn precariously takes out a book, in fear that something may pop out and frighten her (she was getting rather tired of it). She examines the cover, which only has the title on it. "_Guertena's Roses and Other Works…_this could be useful." She takes the book and goes to find Ib.

Ib skims through the book in her hands, and her face grows redder with every word.

"_*** by the ***, I *** my finger over her beautiful ***. With her ***, she…"_

"Ah!" Her face now steaming, Ib scrambles to close the book and place it back in the shelf. Then she starts laughing. "…I guess I can finally understand those words, huh?" she turns around, expecting a reply from someone. "…Huh?" She seems surprised to find that no one is there. She knew Evelyn was in another part of the library, but at that moment, she was almost sure that someone else was with her. She tried to pull some kind of clue from her restored memories, but she couldn't remember anything. All she could picture was the _Forgotten Portrait…_

"Hee-hee…"

"…! Who's there!?" Ib called out. That voice didn't sound like Evelyn's at all. She wondered where and who could it have come from. Then, from the corner of her eye, a shadow moves on the other side of the bookshelf. Immediately Ib runs to the other side, to find the shadow, but there isn't anyone to be found. "Huh?" Looking down, Ib notices a book on the floor. She approaches it carefully and picks it up.

"Where did this come from?" Ib looks up and down at the shelves around her. Each shelf was filled from beginning to end with books, and she couldn't find an open spot from where it might've fallen from.

"Ib…"

Ib gasps, then turns around to see the same shadow running just past the end of the bookcase. With the book in hand, she runs down in hopes of catching it, but when she turns into the corner of the shelf, there isn't a trace that anyone had ever been there.

Ib frowned. She knew that she saw something, and it wasn't Miss Evelyn. The voice sounded female, and from what little Ib saw of her, she knew she caught a glimpse of a red dress. A lady in red…

"Ah!" Ib suddenly remembered. There was a painting in the museum called _The Lady in Red, _and that's all it was. The woman was very beautiful. She then remembered being chased around by several paintings just like it, the same woman in different colored dresses.

It then occurred to Ib that through all the rooms that they've traveled, Ib and Evelyn haven't once run into the lady in red or any of its variations. They've encountered every one of the other works that she can remember. Why not any of the ladies…?

"Ib!"

"Hm?" Ib turned around to see Evelyn walking towards her.

"I found a book that might help us out." Evelyn said. "Did you find anything?"

After a pause, Ib showed Evelyn the book that she found.

Evelyn looked closely at the book. "That looks like a sketchbook." she asked. "Where did you find it, Ib?"

"It was just here on the floor." Ib answered.

"Really?" Evelyn said curiously. It seemed she was as confused as Ib is. "Well, who knows? It might have something useful. Why don't we sit at a desk and look through these?" They both start walking to the middle of the room.

"Um…Miss Evelyn?" Ib asked hesitantly.

"Hm? What is it, Ib?"

"What do you know about _The Lady in Red_?"

"_The Lady in Red_, huh…it's a Guertena classic, and his oldest known painting. It's shrouded in about as much mystery as _Forgotten Portrait._ Some people say that the woman was someone he knew a long time ago, although he never did portraits of people. The official origin is that he modeled it after the women that tried to court him during his lifetime, but I don't think that's true."

"Why not?" Ib asked.

"Because of an entry in his diary. It's a very early one, and it's not even long, only one little sentence."

"What was it?"

"_I met a girl._" Evelyn chuckled. "Of course, there's no way to prove whether or not I'm right. I suppose it's just me being a romantic." She turns her head to Ib. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I was just curious." She paused before speaking again. "…What about the others?"

"What others?"

"The other paintings of that woman. It's the same woman, but wearing a different color. Why did Guertena make so many paintings of the same woman?"

"Ib, there's only one painting of that woman." She says as she pulls out chairs for the two of them. "There isn't another one like it in the whole world."

"…What?"

"…Why don't we sit down, Ib?" She places her book on the desk, tapping on the cover. "Maybe we can find answers in here."

"…" Ib sat down in silence. Now she was even more confused as before. She sits down next to Evelyn.

"Mine's called _Guertena's Roses and Other Works._" Evelyn says, opening to the front page. "I bet we could find some useful information about our roses in…huh!?" She looks at the page and sees that it's completely blank. "Blank!?" She flips through more pages. "Nothing…there's nothing written on any of these!"

"…?" Ib opens her book and runs through it. "Mine's blank, too…"

A puzzled look made its way over Evelyn's face. "But I don't understand. The other books we looked at weren't blank at all. What happened here?"

"…What's this?" In the very back of the sketchbook, Ib finds a small plastic card nestled inside. She pulls it out and looks at it. "Miss Evelyn…I think I found something."

"Huh?" Evelyn looks up to see the card in front of her. "Ah! Ib, I think this is a library card!"

"Really?" She looks closer at the card. "But it isn't written out to anybody. All it says is 'Good for 1 book.'"

Evelyn scoffs. "Well, that's brilliant. We have no idea what to do with it. And the books that might have been any useful are blank We're never getting out of here..." Completely discouraged, Evelyn bangs her head onto the empty book.

Ib inches over to Evelyn to take a closer look at the book, and notices something strange. "Miss Evelyn…there are letters moving around on the page."

"…Hm?" Evelyn moves back to look into the book, and sees that Ib wasn't lying. "Wah! Wh-What the heck is that!?" Letters on the page float and fade, and soon they begin to form a question.

_What year was _Juggling _born?_

Ib reads the question out loud. "Does the book want us to answer it? But when _was _that painting created?" she asked, even though she felt that she should remember the answer herself.

"6223," Evelyn said without thinking. "It was created in 6223." As soon as she gives her answer, even more words begin to appear on the page, and a photo of the painting appears on the page opposite. "Ah! The page is back to normal!"

"So…do we have to put the words back into the book?"

"That must be what the riddle meant! If we can restore this book, maybe we can find something helpful!"

"But how are we supposed to answer all of the questions it's giving us? They can't all be as easy as what year was something created."

Evelyn chuckles slyly. "Ib, did you forget? I've studied Guertena's work for years. And not only am I one of his biggest fans, I'm also the art industry's leading minds on all things Guertena. A little bit of trivia is nothing to me." She cracks her knuckles and flips to another page. "All right, this is my time to shine! Watch and learn, Ib!"

For the next half-hour, Ib watches in amazement as Evelyn restores the book to its former glory. The questions that appear vary in difficulty. Some simply ask for the year that it was created, others ask for what painting technique that Guertena used for a painting, its origins, or the history after its creation. None of these questions intimidate Evelyn in the slightest. The words flow out of her mouth and onto the page like a river and soon, it's almost as if the book had regained the information it once had. Finally, it comes to the last question.

_What is the name of Guertena's rose sculpture?_

Evelyn smiles. Like the rest of the book, this question is too easy for her. With a commanding voice, she answers, "_Embodiment of Spirit_!" The page shifts into a picture of the sculpture of the rose along with a description. The entire book flashes briefly and Evelyn breathes deeply before closing it.

"Miss Evelyn…" Ib says in shock. "That was amazing…"

Evelyn smiles at Ib. "Oh, it wasn't that big of a deal. You should see an old college essay of mine!" Suddenly a sound echoes through the library's empty halls. "Hm? What was that? It sounded like something dropping…"

"I think it came from the central desk."

"Let's check it out." They both take their books and make their way to the middle of the library. "Ah! Ib, look!" Evelyn points to the desk. Resting on top of it is a small wooden box, exactly like the one from the first room. The two girls rush towards the box. "Ah! So restoring the book must have gotten this for us! Ib!"

Ib nods at Evelyn as she takes out her rose. With her other hand, she slowly opens the box. She and Evelyn both peer inside to see a familiar red drop floating inside. Like the first drop, the second flies up into the air and shoots down into Ib's rose, and a second petal bursts to life with vibrant color.

"Yes!" Evelyn says triumphantly. "That's another petal down!" She embraces Ib in excitement. "Ib can you remember anything else now?"

"Um…" Ib closes her eyes. In her head flashes brand new memories. One is of a bright red rose resting in a vase, its vitality being restored. "My rose…my rose has five petals…"

"Five…oh! That must mean that we only need three more! Ib, that's great!"

"I think…there's more. I can see…bunnies."

"…Bunnies?"

"Cute little bunnies. With red eyes." They stand in awkward silence for a moment.

"…What else?" Evelyn asked.

"I can see lots of things…the Gray Room...the Rope Maze..." Ib gasps. "Someone…there was someone else. Someone travelling with me…"

"Really!? Well, who was it?"

"I…" Ib concentrates hard. In her mind, all she can see is a shadow; a blurry figure walking alongside her. She can't see their face. She can't discern any distinguishing factors. All she can see is the shadow…and fragments of a name. _…ar…y…_

"…That's it." Ib says, dejected. "I can't remember anything else."

"It's all right, Ib." Evelyn hugs her again. "What matters is that we're one step closer to getting home! You did great!"

"…Thanks." Ib smiles.

"_No…"_

"Hm? Ib did you hear that?"

"…Yeah…"

"_No,_ _no…_"

"Not this again. Hey!" Evelyn yelled. "Show yourself!"

"_Nononononononononononononono nononononononononononononono noNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_"

All of a sudden, Weiss Guertena appears above them and comes crashing down. His landing knocks both girls down, as well as some of the shelves surrounding them.

"Oof…" Evelyn slowly gets up. "Weiss Guertena!" She yells in anger.

He is panting heavily. As the dust settles, they see Guertena standing in front of them. He's in a feral stance. His once styled hair is completely disheveled; his clothes are practically hanging from his body…and from his eyes stream crimson red tears. "What do you think you're doing…?" he whispers softly.

"_What the heck happened to him?" _Evelyn thinks to herself. She works up the nerve to speak out loud. "What do you want, Weiss!?" she yells, trying to sound intimidating. "We've just been here playing your stupid game this whole time!"

"Heh…heh-heh-heh…ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!" Guertena's laugh slowly grows into a monstrous cackle that echoes through the entire room. It hardly even sounds human; it's become something much more primitive and evil. Ib and Evelyn exchange glances, and they come to the same conclusion: he's not the same man they met. Not anymore.

His laughing abruptly stops. "How can you be playing the game if you _DON'T FOLLOW THE DAMN RULES!? _I mean, do you realize how _frustrating _it is to set up a game to play and see the players _breaking the rules!?"_

Evelyn looks at him in confusion. "What are you talking about!?"

"_LOOK!_" With a wave of his hand, the shelves behind him disappear, and a door can be seen in the back. "There is a GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT THERE! There's a door right there and YOU DIDN'T! EVEN! LOOK AT IT! You were _supposed_ to go in there and find like a BILLION more goddamn doors and _that's _where you were supposed to find the goddamn answers to the GODDAMN QUESTIONS!" He flails around the room, throwing around books and planks of wood in a fit of insanity. "You were NOT supposed to get the answers from your head! You were supposed to go in that door and solve puzzles and run into monsters and get scared but instead, you decided to ruin _EVERYTHING! CHEATERS! YOU CHEATED! CHEATERS! CHEATEEEEEERS!_" He falls to his knees, exhausted.

"…" Evelyn tries to hold back tears as the fear she felt before begins to envelop her once more. Ib remains silent as well, although she's also reached her breaking point. They both try to find the strength to run, to move at all. But they can't.

Guertena then turns to the girls and stares at them with cold, bloody eyes. "Hey…" he whispers as he raises his arms, his thumb and middle finger pressed together. "You want to know what happens to cheaters?" He snaps his fingers, and a black void suddenly emanates from his body. It quickly begins to expand, enveloping the room.

"…! Ib!"

"Miss Evelyn!"

The two embrace each other tightly just as the void reaches them and swallows them up. The sphere then holds for mere moments, then shrinks back down to a singular point and disappears.

The room is completely empty.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ib!"

"Miss Evelyn!"

"No!" The cloaked stranger runs down the hallway with a speed and energy even he didn't know he had. He bursts into the doorway leading into the library, but he arrives in a completely empty room. Desperately he looks around, trying to find something he can use to his advantage. But any trace of anything in that room has been completely removed. Completely exhausted, he collapses onto the floor. "We're too late…"

The ant on his shoulder scuttles down his arm and onto the floor. "Come on, you can't be tired already. That's the most you've run this whole time. Plus, I could've run faster carrying you. You're probably less than 50x my weight."

The man pants heavily. "Your condescending commentary is duly noted as usual, my friend." He slowly gets up. "But I would appreciate your input on the current situation even more. Where do you suppose he's taken them?"

"Judging by the heaping amounts of nothing in this room, I'd say he's taken them to The Council."

"The Council? That doesn't sound good."

"It's the exact opposite of good." The ant says, crawling back up on his shoulder. "It means he's completely lost it again. If we don't get the girls out of there soon, they're going to lose a lot more than just the game. They _will_ die in there."

* * *

**"Ib…"**

** "Mmm…who's…calling me…?" Ib opens her eyes to a white light. From the light, an obscured figure runs toward her.**

** "Ib…!"**

** "Miss Evelyn…no…it's someone else…" Ib squints her eyes, trying to see the person in front of her.**

** "Ib! Ib!"**

** "…a…a…ry…" Ib reaches her hand out to the person, as they do the same.**

** "Ib!" Ib tries to grab at their hand, but she hits nothing but air.**

* * *

"…Ah!" Ib opens her eyes again. She doesn't move at first, and then she sees her hand extended out in front of her. She slowly brings her hand up to her face. "That was a dream…wasn't it?" She tries once more to make out the shadowy figure in her memories, but to no avail. "_Why can't I remember?" _she thinks to herself. "_Who are you? I feel like I've known you all my life…and I can't even remember your name…"_

"…! That's right." Ib suddenly remembers what just happened to Miss Evelyn and herself. Guertena had...Ib shook her head. She didn't want to remember that. What was important was that they were swallowed up by some blackness, and now she didn't know where she was. She decides for now to put the shadowy figure in the back of her mind and focus on the current situation. She sits herself up and looks around. As far as she can see, there is only a black nothingness. If it weren't for the fact that she could see herself, she might've believed she went blind. "It's just like when we started…Miss Evelyn! Miss Evelyn, where are you!?"

"Whaaaaat? I'm trying to sleep…"

"Ah!" Ib turns around and sees Evelyn sleeping right next to her. "Miss Evelyn. Miss Evelyn, you have to wake up." She starts shaking her.

"Mmm…ah!" Evelyn immediately opens her eyes and sits up. "Ib! …Oh, that's right. I nearly forgot what was going on…I'm glad you're okay." Evelyn takes a quick survey of the area. "Where are we right now…?"

"I'm not sure."

Evelyn continues looking around. "It's the same black space as when we started. …Oh, I remember! Guertena started going crazy and he opened up some kind of black hole thing! Is this where he took us, then?"

Ib nods. "Although, I'm not sure why he did…"

"_AH, HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!_" The maniacal laughter echoes through the void as Weiss Guertena appears in front of them. His appearance is still that of a deranged madman. "Welcome, ladies, to the Council!"

"Gah!" Evelyn scrambles back in surprise. She's still shaken by his tantrum earlier, but she does her best to hide it. "Weiss Guertena!"

Ib looks at Guertena questioningly. "Council?"

"Ooh, Ib, you didn't jump when I popped in? Ahh, you're just like I remember you! Nothing ever gets you scared, right?"

Ib didn't want to look him in the eye. If anything scared her right then and there, it was Weiss Guertena.

Guertena claps his hands together. "Well, shall we get down to business! This right here is the penalty room! It's where players go if they've neglected to follow the rules of the game, or just plain cheated."

"How many times are you going to say that!?" Evelyn yells. "I didn't che-"

"_SHUT YOUR MOUTH, CHEATING BITCH!_"

"…!" Evelyn suddenly finds it more difficult to keep herself composed.

"Hah!" Guertena takes a few deep breaths. "Now, you ladies don't have to stay here forever. You just have to play another teensy little game, and you'll be right back where you left off! And since you like answering questions so _GODDAMN _much, that's exactly what you're going to do! Just answer the questions, and you'll be outta here in no time at all! Yaaaaay!" He claps lightly, but his enthusiasm falls on deaf ears.

"…What kind of questions do we have to answer?" Ib asked.

"Uh-uh-uh!" Guertena says, wagging his finger at her. "You're not allowed to ask the questions! Only the Council has that right!" He checks his wrist, although he has no watch. "Ooh, and it looks like they'll be here any second. Gotta go! They don't like it when non-players are in here! Good luck, ladies!" He gets ready to snap his fingers.

"Wait!" Ib calls out to him. "What do you know about _The Lady in Red_?"

Guertena begins to twitch briefly. He shoots Ib a cold, unrelenting stare, but Ib holds her ground. "Please, you have to tell me..."

Guertena simply continues to stare at Ib in silence. Without breaking his stare, he raises his hand again to snap. He does so, and he disappears.

"Ugh! I thought he'd never leave." Evelyn relaxes her body. "Ib, I have to be honest, I don't think I can handle that guy much longer..."

Ib takes a second to compose herself. She was hoping for some kind of answer, but her hopes were dashed, and she remains in the dark about everything. She swallows down her disappointment, telling herself once more to focus on the present. She turns to Evelyn.

"He just gets crazier by the second…" Evelyn shakes her head. "I'm scared of what he might do to us..."

In her head, Ib tries to decide whether to respond more assertively or to sympathize with her. "…I'm scared of him, too."

Evelyn chuckles. "Again, you hardly seem like you're scared at all. Here I am, quivering like a baby, and you've barely moved a muscle...I have no idea where you get it from." Evelyn wraps her arms around Ib. "Thank you, Ib. I'm glad I have someone like you here with me."

"…" Ib smiles.

"I can't focus on being scared right now. So let's get out of this room and back on track to going home." She and Ib pick themselves up, and a rumbling fills the area. From deep down in the blackness, five marble thrones identical to each other shoot up to meet the girls. "Wah! What the heck!?"

Seated upon each throne is a black figure, whose genders are indiscernible. They each wear unique cloaks, all a different color.

"Is this…the Council?" Evelyn asks.

Ib look at each figure curiously. She thinks to herself: "_Where have I seen this before…?_"

The one wearing the blue cloak speaks: "WE ARE THE ?'S COUNCIL."

"The what Council?" she turns to Ib. "Ib, did you hear what he said?"

Ib shakes her head. However, she was hardly paying attention. She was trying to remember where it was she saw these people.

"THIS PLACE IS WHERE ? ARE TAKEN FOR A SPECIAL TRIAL TO PAY FOR THEIR ?." says the one in white, with a clear, feminine voice.

"IF YOU CAN ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS WITHOUT ?," says the one wearing green, "YOU MAY LEAVE, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT ? ANY LONGER."

"IF, HOWEVER, YOU ? WHILST ANSWERING A QUESTION…" the yellow-cloaked one says.

The red one continues with a woman's voice. "THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE DIRE."

"THESE ARE THE RULES OF THE ?'S COUNCIL." They all say in unison.

"Hey!" Evelyn yells. "What's that one word you keep saying?"

"WE SHALL BEGIN THE TRIAL."

"W-Wait a minute! We can't play if we don't fully understand the rules!"

"QUESTION FOR EVE," the red figure declares. "WHAT IS YOUR FULL FIRST NAME?"

"…Huh?" Evelyn sates at them, dumbfounded.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION."

Evelyn continues to stare. "Why would ask me a dumb question like that?"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION."

Evelyn, still confused, decides to answer their question. "…Evelyn."

"CORRECT."

"What?" Evelyn scratches her head, trying to discern the reason why they would ask such a simple question.

"QUESTION FOR IB: IS IB YOUR REAL FIRST NAME?" the blue one asks.

"What the heck?" Evelyn turns to Ib, motioning her to answer the strange question.

"…Yes." Ib says.

"CORRECT."

The two girls look at each other. Neither of them knows what to think, but the both agree that the questions are too easy.

The green one speaks. "QUESTION FOR IB: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?"

"Red." Ib says.

"CORRECT."

"QUESTION FOR EVELYN: DO YOU PREFER WEARING GLASSES OR CONTACT LENSES?" asks the white-cloaked figure.

"Uh…glasses." She answers, pushing her glasses back up on her face.

"CORRECT."

The girls exchange glances once more. Both of them hoped that this was all that the penalty room consisted of, but they knew better. What they didn't know was why these mysterious figures were asking such simple questions about themselves, questions that only they would know the answers to. Why would Guertena send them here to be penalized?

"QUESTION FOR IB: WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?"

"…My handkerchief." Ib places her hand down her right pocket and over the monogrammed handkerchief inside.

"CORRECT. QUESTION FOR EVELYN: HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU KISSED ROMANTICALLY IN YOUR LIFETIME?"

"…!" Evelyn's face turns bright red. She glances at Ib for a moment, then at the cloaked figures surrounding them. The question became very personal, and Evelyn did not want to answer it at all. But she didn't want to run the risk of not playing along. After a pause, she swallows down her pride to answer the question. "T…Two…" she mutters.

"CORRECT."

Evelyn's face is still red. "…Uh…can we have a quick time-out?" she asks.

The figures do not respond to her. They sit in complete silence. "…Guess that's a yes…Ib." She huddles together with Ib. "Do you have any idea what's going on right now? They're just asking us random questions about us. It seems too easy. And on top of that, we haven't received any real penalty, but there's no real indication that we're winning, either…"

Ib shakes her head. "I'm not sure what this is all about."

"Can you remember anything like this from your memories? Some kind of quiz or whatever?"

"The people themselves are kind of familiar, and I was asked a bunch of questions...but I can't remember exactly…and I don't remember any quizzes."

"Try to, Ib. I'd prefer not to answer any more of these… We'll keep playing along for now, but try to remember something about these guys. We need to get back to the real game and soon."

Ib nods. "I'll try my best."

"Good." They turn back to the figures. "Okay, time in."

* * *

The man in the tattered clothing walks through the room following the library. Inside are several more rooms filled with Guertena's works on display for all to see.

"So what's it like for you?" asks the ant on the man's shoulder. "Going through all of this, I mean. Seeing all of these...these..."

"All I see is one great mistake, little ant." the man answers. "It's the shell of an empty man that was once filled with such life, is now filled with regret. I do not think of these mindless scribbles and lumps of clay that one would call paintings and sculptures, let alone pity them."

The ant looks at him with a look of disdain. "As one of the _mindless scribbles_, I resent that statement."

"...I apologize."

"Ah, it's fine. You haven't spoken to anyone in a while. I wouldn't be surprised if you lost your touch a bit in the art of socialization."

The man chuckles. "I can think of several women that would agree with you."

At that moment, the ant's antennae begin to wiggle. "To your right and down and the end of the hallway." he says. "There's a door hidden behind the wallpaper.

"Thank you, my friend." The man makes his way down the hall, as per the ant's direction. When he arrives, there is nothing but a plain wall in front of them.

"...Hm?" The man looks at the wall to the right and sees a figure wearing a brown cloak leaning against the wall, motionless. The man approaches the figure and kneels down on one knee to examine him. The cloak is filled with tears. The body itself is rotting and riddled with gashes. "...Painting or otherwise, no one deserves this. I'm so sorry..."

The ant remains in silence for a moment, so they can both pay their respects. "...Hey. We have to..."

"Yes, my friend." The man gets up and turns to the next wall. He feels around it, then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small palette knife. He holds it up to the upper right corner of the wall and runs it down, creating a long slit in the paper. He does this twice more on the other corner and across at the top. He then pulls at the wallpaper at one corner. With a little effort, he manages to peel the entire wallpaper off, revealing a large, intricate wooden door behind it.

"Again, you're right. I apologize again. You make for a very useful assistant."

The ant shoots him another disdainful look. "_Assistant_?"

"Well, what would you rather be called?" asked the man.

"We can talk titles later. Look at the center."

The man takes a closer look at the wonderfully crafted door. In the middle is a large, detailed circle, and five indents are carved into it. "What is it that I'm looking at?" he asks.

"Locks. Five of them. We need to find the keys in order to open the door. But the girls...and the Council...are right beyond here. I'm sure of it."

"So where do we start?" Suddenly, the brown-cloaked body falls over to his side and a small object rolls out of its hand.

"Ah!" The man turns to see the object roll all the way to the wall across. He goes to pick it up and examine it. "This looks like it can fit into one of the locks."

The ant crawls onto the key and feels it with its antennae. "It is. It's for the one on the top."

The cloaked stranger turns to the body and nods his head. "Thank you. You've brought us one step closer to saving two innocent lives." He goes back to the door and places the key into the top lock. It fits perfectly. He sighs. "One down..."

The ant crawls back up onto his shoulder. "...and four to go.

* * *

For the past several hours—at least it felt that way to them; they have no means of telling time—Ib and Evelyn have done nothing but answer questions about themselves. The questions range from simple to personal to just plain strange. Evelyn seemed to the more embarrassed of the two of them to answer her own questions. Ib concentrated most of her efforts on her memories, trying to pick from them some clue as to who the figures are.

"Ugh…how much more of this…?" She sits down on the ground and looks over to Ib, who is still lost in thought.

Ib mutters to herself. "East, and then…south…? What?"

The red one speaks. "QUESTION FOR EVELYN."

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead…"

"YOU WERE BROUGHT BEFORE THE COUNCIL AS A RESULT OF YOUR CHEATING. DID YOU CHEAT?"

As she listens to the question, something inside of Evelyn snaps. "…All right, I've had just about enough of this!" Evelyn gets up and stomps her foot down.

"The one in yellow…no, the one in white…" Ib whispers to herself.

"You've been asking these stupid questions for hours already! It's getting us nowhere! The only reason Ib and I are even in this stupid room being interrogated by you people is because I was accused of something I didn't do!" Evelyn yells at them. "We shouldn't even be here at all! We should be on our way to winning this game already!"

"East…and then north? Wait a minute…"

"How would I even cheat anyway!?" she asks. "It's like a school test! If I studied beforehand, it's not a crime to have the answers in your head!"

"Four steps east…and then two steps north…" Ib slowly pieces things together.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION." The red cloak demands. "DID YOU CHEAT?"

"Grr…NO! NO, I DID NOT CHEAT!" Evelyn yells. The figures respond with an ominous sneer.

"Four steps east, then two steps south! That's the answer! Miss Evelyn, I figured it out!" Ib turns to Evelyn just in time to see Evelyn's glasses fall to the ground, completely sliced in two.

"Miss…Evelyn…?" Ib slowly looks up and sees the red cloaked figure seated in its marble throne. Extended in its hands is a sword that wasn't there before. And falling from the sword are several drops of blood.

"...!" Quickly, Ib runs in front of Evelyn. As she turns to her, she gasps in horror at what she sees. A freshly cut gash runs diagonally down Evelyn's face, and blood slowly trickles out of it.

"Ah…ahh…AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Evelyn falls to the ground writhing and screaming in pain, her hands pressed against the wound.

"_MISS EVELYN!_" Ib rushes to Evelyn's side. The figures merely watch the two girls suffer in front of them, knowing that they have discovered the missing word in the rules and the true name of The ?'s Council.

"LIAR!"


	6. Chapter 6

"And with this…" The cloaked stranger places two glass eyes into the sockets of a sculpture. They lock in with a click. "Perfect." He says with a smile. The mouth of the sculpture opens, revealing a small key inside. The man carefully takes it. "How many does that make?"

"Three so far, and one more to go." The ant says in reply. "I gotta say, you're pretty slow at this. I'm sure that the girls would have figured this whole thing out by now."

The man chuckles softly. "Puzzles were never my forte, friend. Besides, you could help me."

"I figured that you, of all people, would be able to solve these faster than anyone. And it's a lot of fun watching you try to do it by yourself."

"Well, I'm glad I provide sufficient entertainment for you. However, I don't believe tha-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"…! What was that!?" The man darts his eyes around for the source of the scream.

"That came from the door!" the ant screams. The man runs over to the door and takes a good look at it. The screaming continues relentlessly, echoing throughout the hallways.

"…My little friend, I believe that now would be an appropriate time for your assistance."

"The next key is hidden somewhere in the room behind you. Go. Now."

* * *

"Aaaaahhhh! It hurts…_it hurts!_" Evelyn continues screaming as tears stream down her face, mixing with the blood from her freshly formed wound.

"Miss Evelyn!" Ib scrambles to take out her handkerchief and place it on the wound, putting as much pressure on it as she can. At the same time, Ib reaches for Evelyn's black rose. She gasps in horror when she sees two petals slowly shrivel up and fall off the flower. "Why…" she turns angrily to the figure cloaked in red. "_Why would you do such a horrible thing!?"_

"WE ARE THE LIAR'S COUNCIL." They all say in unison. "THIS PLACE IS WHERE LIARS ARE TAKEN FOR A SPECIAL TRIAL TO PAY FOR THEIR LIES. IF YOU CAN ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS WITHOUT LYING, YOU MAY LEAVE, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT LIE ANY LONGER. IF, HOWEVER, YOU LIE WHILST ANSWERING A QUESTION, THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE DIRE. THESE ARE THE RULES OF THE LIAR'S COUNCIL."

"EVELYN LIED WHEN SHE ANSWERED THE QUESTION." The red figure explained. "AND THUS SHE WAS REPRIMANDED FOR ONCE AGAIN BREAKING THE RULES."

"But that's not fair!" Ib called out. "Miss Evelyn told you what happened! She didn't cheat! She answered that question truthfully!"

"LIAR!" The blue figure produces a sword from the air and swings it to the side.

"Ahh!" As the sword moves, a large cut appears on Ib's shoulder. Blood slowly begins trickling out. Ib presses onto it, trying to hold back her screams as her tears flow freely.

"EVELYN BROKE THE RULES OF THE GAME. SHE BYPASSED A LARGE SECTION OF THE GAME AND OBTAINED A RED DROP WITHOUT THE PROPER REQUIREMENTS. THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED CHEATING."

"But…!" Before Ib can continue, Evelyn grabs onto her arm. "Ah! Miss Evelyn!"

Evelyn tries to speak, but too much of her energy is being used up trying not to scream. Her mouth is clamped shut and she is breathing heavily through her nose, wincing with each inhale and exhale. All she does is give Ib a stern look and shake her head frantically.

"Miss Evelyn…?"

Evelyn then turns back to the red cloaked figure.

"WE WILL ASK YOU ONCE MORE. DID YOU CHEAT DURING THE GAME?"

"…" Evelyn nods quickly.

"What!?" Ib asks in surprise.

"CORRECT."

Ib looks at Evelyn. "But, Miss Evelyn…"

Evelyn takes several more breaths. "We…we have to get out of h-here…that c-c-comes first…you…you have to…AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" She continues writhing in pain.

"Miss Evelyn! Please, try not to talk anymore!" Ib continues holding her handkerchief on Evelyn's wound. "Th-The bleeding won't stop…!" Ib says through her tears.

Everything begins to slow down and deafen around Ib. The fear that she did her best to keep down has finally begun pouring out of her. The fear of losing the game…the fear of Miss Evelyn dying…the fear of being all alone in this twisted world…it's all finally begun to overwhelm her. And at the end of it all, she finds something that she wasn't sure she had: the unrelenting desire to win. With confidence (at least she hoped), Ib turns to the Liar's Council. "Please, leave the remaining questions to me!"

"…! I-Ib…"

"She's answered enough questions already! And she needs to rest! I'll take it all from here! Please!"

The members of the Council exchange quick, wordless glances with each other. "VERY WELL." They answer together. "FROM THIS POINT, YOU WILL BE THE ONLY ONE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT LIE. HOWEVER, EVELYN'S REMAINING PETALS WILL ACT AS YOURS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE GAME, AND YOU WILL BOTH LOSE SHOULD THEY RUN OUT."

Ib sighs. "Thank you…"

"Ib…!"

Ib turns back to Evelyn. "I'll be fine. Please leave everything to me. I don't want you getting hurt." Ib takes off her backpack and carefully places it under Evelyn's head. She then takes Evelyn's hand and puts it over the handkerchief. "Just try to stop the bleeding. I promise I'll get us out here. We're going to be okay..."

"…" Evelyn nods.

Ib slowly stands up, ignoring the pain from her shoulder. "I'm ready."

* * *

"Would you hurry up already!?" the ant yells in a panic. "They're dying in there!"

The man scrambles through a bookshelf, pressing various books further inside. "I'm doing my best, little friend, but your yelling isn't exactly proper assistance!"

"I keep telling you! Red, red, blue, red, green, black, yellow! You have to push them in like that, and you keep doing it backwards!"

"I hope you realize that simply shouting out colors can be very confusing!"

"_Red, red, blue, red -_"

"_Slow down!_" They continue yelling over each other, and the man accidentally pushes a white book inside the shelf, and it stops with a click.

"_For the last time, it's-" _Before he can repeat the pattern, the ant's antennae prick up. "Did you hear that?"

"What? Hear what?"

"There was a click." Something drops from behind them onto the floor with a thud. "…And a thud."

"Was that behind us?" He turns around, and spies a small wooden box on the floor. "What is that?"

"Well, it's not a key."

"…" The man quickly walks to the box and picks it up. After examining it for a moment, he opens it up. A warm, red light emanates from inside. "Little friend, is this what I think it is?"

"Yes." The ant answers. "And we need to get that to her as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course. Red, red, blue, red, green, black, yellow."

* * *

"YOU HAVE ANSWERED MANY QUESTIONS TRUTHFULLY, IB. THE COUNCIL IS VERY IMPRESSED."

Ib says nothing in response. She turns to Evelyn, who still has pressure over her wound. She still looked in a great deal of pain. But her screaming has become softer and less frequent, and Ib was very grateful for that.

"WE ONLY HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION," says the one in green. "AND IF YOU ANSWER CORRECTLY, THE TWO OF YOU WILL HAVE PAID FOR YOUR CRIMES, AND YOU WILL BE FREE TO GO, SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT LIE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes." Ib says with confidence. She clenches her fists, trying to hide the wave of relief that rushed through her.

"FINAL QUESTION FOR IB: YOU HAVE TRAVERSED THROUGH THIS WORLD ONCE BEFORE, AND YOU HAD A COMPANION BY YOUR SIDE TO HELP YOU. WHAT WAS THEIR NAME?"

"…!" Ib is clearly taken aback at the question. The Council had never asked her questions about her first journey before, and they had just asked the most important one. She tried once more to pull the name from her memories, or even make out the shadowy figure alongside her. But she still has only the vaguest hints of a name, and she's not even sure what to make of that. At that moment, Ib wanted nothing more than to be able to properly answer the question. But she cannot. Sighing, she has to answer with nothing more or less than the truth. "I don't know."

"LIAR!"

"What!?" Ib yells. The figure in green pulls out a sword from the air and slices at her, cutting a slit open in her leg. "Ahh!" Ib falls to the ground grabbing her leg in pain.

"…! Ib!" Evelyn yells in a strained voice.

"Ah...b-but I didn't-"

"YOU WERE WARNED ONCE ALREADY. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LIE."

"B-But I really don't know!" Ib exclaims.

"LIAR!" The one cloaked in yellow takes his sword and swings, and a cut appears on Ib's waist.

"Aaaahh!" Ib nearly falls back, but she uses her good arm to support her. "P-Please! I've been trying all this time to remember their name, I really have! But I can't remember it at all!"

"LIAR!" yells the one in red as she creates a sword and slices Ib three times.

"Ahhhhh!" The strikes send Ib reeling backwards as traces of her blood go flying, spreading out around the area. Some of it even lands on the Council members, but they don't even seem to notice.

"Ib!" Evelyn slowly picks herself up. "Ple-ah!-Please stop this already! She doesn't know the person's name!"

The Council doesn't even notice Evelyn. They are all focused on the girl slowly trying to get up. "WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR PREVIOUS COMPANION?"

"I don't know!" Ib screams through tears and cries of pain. "_I don't know!_"

"LIAR!" The Council has had enough. One by one, they each take swords and begin slicing away at Ib, yelling "Liar!" each time. They don't even wait to hear a rebuttal from her.

"Ahh! Ahhhhhh!"

"Ib…IB!" Evelyn tries to run to her, but she falls to the ground, completely drained as another wave of pain rushes through her face. She reaches out her hand in desperation. "Please stop! I'm begging you, _please! _Stop it! _IB! _"

"_LIAR!_" All at once, the Liar's Council raises their swords into the air and strike downwards.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!_"

"IB!"

"Ah…a-ah…" Ib slowly falls onto her knees and lands flat on the ground, as a puddle of blood begins making its way out her body.

"NOOOOO! IB! _IB!_"

"_Is…Is someone calling me? They sound so far away…_" A voice vaguely echoes through Ib's ears. The only things she can hear clearly are her own thoughts.

"IB! PLEASE ANSWER ME! PLEASE!"

"_M…Miss Evelyn…_" Ib slowly turns to face Evelyn, but she can barely see her. Her vision is fading. "_Oh…that's right…_"

"…! No…" Evelyn looks on in horror as the life slowly fades away from Ib's eyes. "Ib, no! NO! Ib, stay with me!"

"_We were supposed to…get back home…I promised we would. I…I'm so sorry, Miss Evelyn…_" Ib's eyes slowly start to close.

"IB!" Evelyn continues to yell, not realizing that Ib can barely hear her.

Ib slowly takes out her rose, and watches the petals with away one by one."_I'm sorry…that I couldn't keep my promise…I'm sorry that we lost…I'm sorry that we couldn't go back home._" Her vision slowly begins to fade into black. _"I'm sorry, Forgotten Portrait…I couldn't save you, either. And I'm sorry…to the person that I can't remember…the person who was with me before…and I know it sounds selfish, but wherever you are…_" One single tear falls from Ib's eye. "_I really wish you were here right now…_"

"IB!" The cloaked stranger bursts inside.

"Huh?" Evelyn turns to see him. "Wh-Who are you…?"

"WHAT!? WHO DARES DISTURB THE COUNCIL?"

"If only you knew!" he tosses the wooden box in his hands and throws it high in the air. It opens up freely, and the small Red Drop falls out, filling the room with red light.

"AAAAAHHHH!" The cloaked figures shield their eyes.

"You were right, little friend! It seems they can't stand the light!"

"Yeah, and neither can I!" the ant says, hidden in one of the folds of his cloak. "Talking later!"

"Right!" he runs up to Evelyn and carefully picks her up. "Easy now. You're going to be just fine."

"H-How did you get in here?" Evelyn whispers.

"Through the front door." He says, smiling.

"There…There was a front door?"

"I'm not sure if you heard my friend, but now isn't the ideal time for idle conversation." He holds Evelyn in his arms.

"Wait…" Evelyn whispers as she grabs the man's cloak. "Ib first…get Ib first…"

"Now, now don't you worry about Ib. She's going to be just fine." He looks up to see the Red Drop in the air shoot down onto Ib's rose, completely restoring its vitality, and adding color to one more petal.

"…!" Ib's wounds slowly begin to close up, and color returns to her skin. She gasps at the sudden change. "The…the pain, it's…"

"You humans sure like talking, don't you!" the ant yells. "We have to go _now!_"

Ib looks at the cloaked man carrying Evelyn in his arms. Then, without thinking, she gets up and starts running to him. The man begins running towards the exit, and Ib follows.

"NO! NO ONE LEAVES THE COUNCIL!" The cloaked figures begin to float briefly in the air, and they give chase to them. They open their mouths, revealing black, menacing fangs.

"Close the door behind you, Ib!" he says as they run through the threshold. Ib grabs on to the large handle and pulls the heavy door.

"NO ONE LEAVES! YOU WILL DIE HERE!"

"Grr…LIAR!" Ib slams the door closed behind her. But she has no time to relax. She continues running to catch up with the stranger carrying Ib. "Who are you!? Why are you helping us!?"

"Explanations later, please." The man says, still running. "We need to find a vase!"

"Is Evelyn going to be all right!? Why are my wounds gone!? Why did you have a Red Drop!?"

"Ib, _please!_"

"Are you the one I was with before!? Are you the man in the Forgotten Portrait!? What's your na…" Ib begins to slow down. She tries her best to keep going, but the adrenaline running through her has run out. The room begins to spin faster and faster around her and eventually, she slips into unconsciousness and faints.

"Ah! Ib!" The man stops in his tracks and turns around. "Come on now, Ib, stay with me! Ib! Ib!"

* * *

**"Ib!"**

** "Ah…huh?" Ib spies a shadowed figure in front of a white light.**

** "Ib! IIIIb!"**

** "Are you…" Ib cycles through her newly regained memories. She can now remember entire rooms and puzzles, chunks of the past that were only fragments she can now piece together, and she can recall things and events in the order that they happened. And she can remember someone travelling with her. Before, it was just a shadow that she couldn't make out. Now the person is finally coming into focus. "…a…ry?**

** "****Hee-hee…**Ib!"

** Ib extends her hand out to reach them. She can finally begin to make out distinguishing features. Hair…clothes…eyes…a smile…and a knife in their hand.**

* * *

"Ah…mmm…" Ib slowly tosses and turns in her sleep next to Evelyn. The cloaked man and the ant watch over them.

"They just need some time to rest." The ant whispers. "They've both been through a lot."

"Indeed they have. Ib especially, the poor girl…" He carefully brushes some hair away from her face. "You are indeed very brave, little one. I hope your dreams are sweet ones."

"M…Mary…"


	7. Chapter 7

_**AUTHOR'S**_** NOTE:** Hey guys. It's me. I just want to apologize about the long wait for the next chapter. Classes started up a couple of months ago, and my grades last year were _dangerously_ low. It wasn't a great way for me to finish my first year of college. So I've been working tirelessly to bring them back up to a level that I can be proud of. Just yesterday, I've accomplished that, so I celebrated by finishing up the next chapter for publishing. I sincerely apologize for the delay.

BUT. Just because I haven't posted in a while doesn't mean I've stopped writing. I still have a bit of free time as well as some weekends to jot some stuff down. I don't have everything set in stone yet, but most of my ideas are in place, and I pretty much have the entire plot figured out. I just ask that you bear with me for however long it may take. Not a day goes by that I don't feel bad for not continuing and finishing this story that so many people seem to enjoy reading and that I enjoy writing. I promise that I will see this through to the end. Please continue to read _Forgotten Portrait: ReCollection_!

* * *

**She's been here before.**

** Ib finds herself in a completely gray room. All around her, she sees gray walls, a gray floor and ceiling, and gray doors. Behind her is one of the doors. Knocking comes from the other side. Ib turns to look at it, and the knocking quickly escalates into a violent pounding. Ib takes a step back. Whatever is knocking, it isn't friendly. She turns again, runs to the other door and into the next room, slamming the door behind her.**

** The room is exactly the same as the last one; bare, except for two doors, and perfectly gray. Before Ib can relax, the knocking continues from directly behind her. She runs to the next door. And she keeps running, running through the same door and into the same room, not stopping or looking behind her. Finally, she arrives at one more door and opens it, arriving at yet another gray room. Only this time, there is no other door. But as she closes the door behind her, Ib notices someone else there with her.**

** In the middle of the room is a girl who is turned away from Ib. Ib can make out several features. Brown boots, a dark green dress, and perfectly blonde hair. Ib sighs a sigh of relief. She can remember this girl. She travelled with her, she was with her almost every step of the way on her journey, and now she was right in front of her. She wasn't just a vague shadow in her memories anymore. She was a real person. She was her friend. And she had a name. "Mary…"**

** "…Ib…" Mary slowly begins to turn around. But as she does, her boots slowly catch on fire.**

** "…! Mary!"**

** Mary continues to turn, not even noticing the flames creeping up her body and dress. "You don't remember, do you…?" The fire soon catches on the floor, and quickly spreads. Mary is now completely turned to Ib, and stares at her with big, blue eyes. "How you lied to me…how you left me here…"**

** "…No…" Ib tries to reach out for Mary, but the flames cut her off, making her fall back. "Ah! Mary…!"**

** "And now you're back…trying to save someone that you don't even know. Someone that doesn't eve exist anymore…" Mary, as well as the room, is now completely covered in fire as she slowly walks toward Ib. "What about me…?"**

** "M…Mary…" Ib scrambles back until she presses against the door.**

** "Soon, Ib…soon, we can be together again…" She opens up her arms. "Together…forever…" She lowers herself to Ib's level and wraps her arms around her. Ib immediately bursts into flames.**

* * *

"Aaaahhh!" Ib immediately opens her eyes and sits up, and a hand reaches out to grab her shoulder, taking her by surprise. Ib turns quickly to see the man whose face is covered by a cloak.

"Easy, girl." The man says. "You're okay."

"You're…you're that man from before…"

"Yes. Are you all right?"

Ib takes deep breaths. "I…I had a nightmare…but I can't remember anything…"

"It's all right. You're safe now."

"S…Safe? Where am I…?"

"You're back in the library. Incidentally, everything else is as well."

"What?" Ib looks around to see that everything in the library was exactly like she had found it before, not a book out of place. She suddenly remembered when Guertena appeared and destroyed nearly everything in the room. "But how…?"

"This place…it's got a mind of its own. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it myself anymore. The point is, it was able to fix itself up quite nicely."

"…Ah! Miss Evelyn! Where's Miss Evelyn!?"

"Sh-sh-sh-sh…Miss Evelyn is just fine. She's right over there."

Ib turns to see Miss Evelyn sitting at a desk, her back turned towards them. Her head is hanging low. Ib immediately gets up and runs to her. "Miss Evelyn! Miss Evelyn!"

"Hm…?" Evelyn slowly raises her head. "Ooh…I fell asleep again…"

"Miss Evelyn!"

"Hm…? Ah, Ib!" Evelyn turns to greet her. "You're finally awake!"

Ib sighs, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness you're all righ-" Before Ib can finish, she stops in her tracks and her voice trails off as Evelyn turns to face her completely. AS she does, time begins to slow down for Ib, as she takes in the image in front of her. A large, clean scar runs diagonally down Evelyn's face.

Evelyn barely even notices Ib's reaction as she goes in hug her. "Oh, we were so worried about you! I'm glad you're okay."

"M…Miss Evelyn…"

"Hm? What is it?"

Ib hesitates for a moment, then raises her hand to her face, tracing the scar. "Your face…"

"Oh, right…I almost forgot that I had it. We found a vase with water soon after we escaped the Council. It was able to stop the bleeding and close up the wound, but this is what's left of it. I don't know why it didn't completely heal."

Ib sniffles, struggling to hold back her tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"What? Ib, it's not your fault at all!"

"But…if I had realized who they were sooner, I could have warned you…I…I should have…" Ib starts wiping away her tears, lamenting the fact that she hadn't a scratch on her. "You shouldn't have gotten hurt."

Evelyn smiles. "But then what did you do when I _did_ get hurt? You decided to take the pain for both of us, and put your life on the line so I didn't have to. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I ought to be the one protecting you, but it's been the other way around this whole time." Evelyn starts welling up. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough before…and thank you so much for protecting me this whole time. I promise that I'll do my best to return the favor from here on out. I owe you that much, so please don't cry…"

She should be angry. She should be depressed. In Ib's mind, she cycles through all of the things she could've expected from Miss Evelyn after the Council, but she never expected this. The tears that were forming in her eyes finally come pouring out, and she wraps her arms around Evelyn in response. "Miss Evelyn…"

"Hey! This is all nice and everything, but we have some more serious matters to attend to."

"Hm?" the girls look over to the cloaked man. "Was that you?" Evelyn asked. "That didn't sound like your voice at all."

The man chuckles. "That's because it wasn't. It was my little friend here. You'll have to excuse his attitude." A little ant crawls down the man's cloak and approaches the girls.

"…Hey there."

Evelyn gasps. "Th-The ant talked!"

"Geez, after all the stuff you've seen, you're still surprised at a little talking ant?"

"…" Ib wipes the tears from her eyes and kneels down to examine the ant, staring at it intently.

"Hm?" The ant looks up in curiosity. They don't say a word to each other. They remain in silence, staring at each other for several seconds.

"…I'm sorry I ruined your painting."

"…It's okay."

Evelyn looks at the two of them. "Um…what's happening here?"

"Nothing that need concern you." The man replies. "But my six-legged friend is right; we really ought to get down to brass tacks. Now, I'm sure you have lots of questions. Now is the perfect time to answer them. On top of that, there is some vital information that I ought to share with the two of you."

Without a second thought, Ib stands up and looks at the man. "Who are you?"

"Ah! Ib…?"

"Are you the man in the painting? Are you the Forgotten Portrait?"

The man stares back, although Ib can't see his face shrouded in his cloak. "…I suppose I owe you that…little Ib."

* * *

"Damn…damn…damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, _DAMN!_" Guertena takes his "throne" and throws it violently to the floor. He continues to thrash about aimlessly and angrily. "It's him, isn't it!? That bastard is going to ruin EVERYTHING! HOW!? HOW IS HE STILL WALKING AROUND!? He hasn't done anything for fucking decades! _WHY_ does he choose now!? ..._SHUT UP!_ Obviously, I'm going to handle this…" He closes his eyes to think. "…What _IS IT!?_ I'm trying to…huh? …Heh, heh…that's actually a good idea. Yeah…yeah, that'll work just fine…" Guertena takes a deep breath. "Heh…you're not gonna get the one-up on me…old man…"

* * *

The cloaked man pauses before beginning. "Ib…I'm sorry…but I'm not the man you are looking for."

Ib blinks in surprise. "…What?"

"_The Forgotten Portrait_ is a different person entirely. I'm not sure who he is, but it's not me. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Ib doesn't say anything at first. She looks down, trying to hide her disappointment. Tears begin to well up in her eyes again. "That…that's okay," she whispers.

"But there's a bit of good news." The ant says, crawling his way up Ib's arm. "We do know where he is."

Ib's eyes dry up almost completely. "You do!?"

"My insect friend here is quite adept at making his way around. He knows every nook and cranny of this world."

"I hate to toot my own horn, but it's true. Anyway, I know his exact location, and he's isn't moving from there any time soon. There's just one problem."

Evelyn sighs. "Weiss has him, doesn't he?"

"…Yes." The man answers quietly. "Weiss Guertena…"

The ant continues. "That lunatic has the boy's body encased in a glass coffin that he keeps in his room. We're not sure why, but it definitely has something to do with your rose, Ib."

"My rose?" Ib reaches into her pocket and pulls out her rose, examining each petal. Three of them are red and two are clear. "What about it?"

"That we're not too sure about either. What we do know is that your rose has more power than that guy is letting on. For some reason, the denizens of this world can't stand the light it gives off and aren't able to go anywhere near the scattered petals, let alone touch them. But other than housing Ib's life force, the rose is useless without all of the Red Drops."

"That explains why he wants me and Ib to find all the petals. This isn't just some silly little game to him. So you're saying that Weiss wants the rose for himself?" Evelyn asks.

"Precisely." The man says. "For what, we probably don't want to find out. Right now, we have the rose itself and most of the petals, and we're the only ones that are able to find them. We have to gather them all, and find out what its proper use is. Maybe we can use it against him somehow."

Ib places the rose back into her pocket. "That sounds like a good plan."

"Hold on, Ib," Evelyn says as she places her hand on the girl's shoulder. "How do we know that we can trust you?" she asks the man.

Ib looks at Evelyn with a puzzled look on her face. "Miss Evelyn?"

"Hey!" the ant yells. "Did you forget that he saved both of your lives!?"

"Don't get me wrong." Evelyn says calmly. "Ib and I very grateful for that. And the information you've just given us will surely help. But I've memorized every face that was in the museum today, and you're not one of them. How do we know you're not working for Guertena? What if he sent you as a double agent? You haven't even told us your name."

The ant sneers at Evelyn. "Why you…"

"Miss Evelyn…" Evelyn doesn't look at Ib, and keeps her gaze locked on the cloaked man.

"…Heh. You have a nice fire in your eyes." The man says lightly. "And smart as a whip to boot. I expected nothing less from you. You have a wonderful companion, little Ib. You would do well to learn from her." He reaches his hand into one of the folds of his cloak.

Instinctively, Evelyn moves in front of Ib. "What are you doing!?"

"Calm down, Evelyn. I just wanted to show you something. Here it is." He pulls from his cloak a beautiful white rose.

Ib and Evelyn blink in surprise. "A rose?"

"Yes," the man answers. "I, too, have a rose. Everyone in this place that has a rose is human, and are from the other side of the painting."

Ib thought for a moment. She had a strange feeling about what the man had just said.

"I've been here for a long time now. Longer than you would probably believe. I have my reasons for not telling you who I am, but you must trust that all I want is for you two and your friend to make it home safely." The man contemplates for a moment, then looks out to the vast corridors of the library. "This world has become twisted and evil. The world that Guertena had set out to create became a haven for insanity. It was not always like this, but the fact of the matter is no one, especially not innocents such as yourselves should have to be here in this place. Even some of the paintings have hidden away in fear. The cruelty of that man knows no bounds." He looks back to them. "I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to stop that madman and get you home safely."

Evelyn relaxes herself, though she still has a concerned look on her face. She looks at Ib. "What do you say, Ib?"

Ib thinks about what they should do, but she didn't really have to. "I think we should trust him."

"…Well, if Ib says yes…then I guess I do, too."

"All righty, then." The ant says happily. "Then let's get going." He scuttles down to the ground and begins to make his way to the next door.

"You heard him." The man says with a smile as he follows the tiny insect.

"Right. Ib, let's go."

"Okay." They both begin to follow the ant, but Ib stops. "Oh, that's right!"

Evelyn and the others stop with her. "What's wrong, Ib?" Ib ignores her as she takes off her backpack and reaches into one of its pockets. After a short moment, she pulls out a small card. "Oh, right! That's the library card that you picked up earlier. It's good for one book, right? Our books from before should still be at the checkout desk. Well, no sense not using it. A book from here may be useful." The two girls make their way to the desk, where the two books they had picked up were still resting. "So which one should we check out?"

Ib takes a moment and examines the two books in front of them. One is an encyclopedia of Guertena's works that Evelyn filled up from beginning to end. The other was a sketchbook that she found which was completely empty. She then remembered the strange circumstances that led her to the book. "…The sketchbook."

"Hm? Really?" Evelyn looks at the book strangely. "Well, if you say so."

The cloaked man says nothing. The ant stares at the cloaked man.

"Hey..." the ant whispers. "That book is..." the cloaked man quickly and silently turns to the ant. He raises a finger to his lips and shakes his head. The ant reluctantly complies.

Ib places the card on the desk, and it disappears. Then she takes the sketchbook and places it into her backpack.

"Are we ready, ladies?" the man asks.

They both look at the man. "Yes." They all continue walking together. Ib smiles, looking at all of the new friends she's made. As she joins the others on the way into the next room, she doesn't even notice a faint yellow footprint forming on the floor behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

Guertena sits huddled in the corner of his room. In one of his hands is a handkerchief, which he uses to delicately clean something in his other hand. "Gently, gently…" he whispers. "I want you nice and clean…"

He stops cleaning for a moment and turns around, concealing the object in his hand. "What is it? I'm almost finished cleaning; you can see it then." He continues cleaning. "…Yes, I know that they're almost there, you don't need to tell me that. …Yes, I've already placed it. It'll be just like last time. I already said that they wouldn't get in the way of the plan. No…no, I'm going to win this game. No one...not Ib...not even he can stop it."

Examining the object carefully, he lets out a breath, stands up, and turns around to face no one. He extends his arm, showing off a shiny palette knife in his hand. "So tell me…how does it look?"

* * *

"Oh, wow!" Eve says, staring at the paintings that line the hallway.

"Isn't this where we came from?" Ib asks, trying not to remember their previous encounter with the Liar's Council.

"It is," the ant replies. "But there's more to this area than meets the eye. Had you played the game the way Weiss wanted you to, you would've ended up here anyway."

"At any rate, we're here now, and the only way to move is forward." the man says. "Let's look around and try to find our means of advancing." His words fall on deaf ears, as the girls move out on their own to explore. "Um...ladies?"

"Ohhh, these are so wonderful!" Evelyn exclaims as she passes each painting.

Ib chuckles. "I'm surprised that you still admire his work, after all we've been through."

"Hm...I suppose it does seem strange, doesn't it? But I just can't help myself. These paintings have inspired me my whole life."

"You are a fan of Guertena, Miss Evelyn?" the cloaked man asks.

"The biggest. Or at least I was." Evelyn stops in front of a painting. She traces a finger down its frame, and a deep look of melancholy forms on her face. "Huh...I guess I never really thought about until now..."

The man looks at Evelyn. "Thought about what?"

"I've studied Guertena's work all my life, ever since I saw a painting of his as a little girl. Everything about him was so fascinating to me. When my grandfather gave me a copy of his diary, I would read it every day. Even now, I could probably recite every single word. It was almost as if I knew him. He lead a rather tragic life, you know, according to his diary. I never would've dreamed that it would amount to all this..." Evelyn pauses for a moment. She begins to remember seeing Guertena in the flesh, and the suffering that he's made them go through."Actually meeting him..." She lightly brushes her fingers against her scar. "It's almost heartbreaking. That man...he was my hero. My inspiration. My career...practically my whole life...I owe to some crazed lunatic..." After a brief moment, Evelyn slowly begins to cry.

Ib says nothing. The man and the ant say nothing. They remain in silence, allowing Evelyn to cry freely. Afterwards, the man slowly approaches Evelyn and places a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Evelyn... do you know this painting in front of you?" he asks.

Evelyn takes a moment to examine the painting. It depicts a moon hanging in a starless, dark blue sky, with leafless trees surrounding it. Below it is a lake, but the reflection of the moon and trees is not the same. The moon's reflection is actually the sun shining in a bright blue sky. The bare trees are reflected by lucious, green-leaved ones.

"I've never seen this one before." Ib says as she examines the painting for herself. She reads aloud the title below it. "_Reflection._"

"Aptly named, isn't it?" the cloaked man asks. "Guertena was never a very religious man. What he did appreciate, however, were the ideas behind religious teachings." He turns to Evelyn. "Do you know when he painted this, Evelyn?"

"Of course I do." she says, her eyes still fixed on the painting. "It was after he befriended a Taoist during his travels. He modeled this after the Taoist principle of Yin & Yang."

"And what is that principle, exactly?"

Evelyn thinks. "That for the good in a person, there is a bit of evil..."

"And for every evil, there is still a bit of good. Evelyn, I know that right now, this Guertena is a madman capable of unspeakable acts. But that's not the way he always was. The man that he used to be...the man whose passion was painting...the man with romance in his heart...was real. That's the Weiss Guertena you must hold close to your heart. I know you can do that, because your heart is filled with as much passion and kindness as his was."

Evelyn remains in silence for a few more moments. Then she turns to the man, chuckling. "Whoever you are, you seem to know a lot." She takes his hand into her own. "...Thank you."

The ant chuckles. "It's never really his thing to see a nice lady like you cry."

"Is that right?" Evelyn asks before she starts laughing.

The man looks at Evelyn curiously. "Hm...heh, heh...HA, HA, HA, HA!"

"Hee-hee!" Ib smiles softly and laughs a little with them.

The ant looks at everyone. "...Humans are weird."

Before long, Evelyn and the others stop laughing. "Hey, I just got an idea! What if we were able to reach Guertena's good side?"

"...What do you mean?" The man asks.

"Yeah! Maybe his old self is still in there. If we could remind him of that person, maybe he would stop with this whole game and let us go home!"

"It's...highly unlikely, Evelyn. I said before, the man he used to be _was_ real. If he's still there, he may be too far gone to come back. And he may barely be of any use, even if we could reach him. I think it's safer to just find the remaining petals for now."

"But you also said that I ought to hold onto the old Guertena. If there's any chance of that working, I want to take it. Even as he is now, no one ought to be that miserable." She turns to Ib. "What do you think, Ib?"

Ib thinks for a moment. "I...I want to believe that we can reach him."

"Ha! See, Ib believes me!"

"...Fine." the man says coldly. "But the petals come first. In the inevitable event that your plan doesn't work, we'll have that. Let's go." Without a word, he continues his way down the hallway.

"Um...did I say something wrong?" Evelyn asks.

The ant makes his way up to Evelyn's shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it. Let's just keep going for now, okay?"

"...Right...come on, Ib." Evelyn begins to walk behind the cloaked man.

"Coming." Ib begins to walk, as a light ping resonates from her backpack. "Hm? What was that?" She opens up her backpack, and finds that the sketchbook glowing faintly for a brief moment. Ib quickly takes the book out and flips through the pages, and finds something that wasn't there before. It's a light sketch of a moon in the sky and it's reflection in the lake before. It's eerily similar to_ Reflection_. "When did...?"

"Ib!" Evelyn calls out. "Don't trail behind, it's dangerous!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Ib sets her curiosity aside for the moment as she places the book back in her bag and catches up to the others.

* * *

Guertena sits cross-legged in his throne, his hands clasped together. He's twiddling his thumbs impatiently. "I know, I know!" he says to no one. "They're going to be there soon, and it's going to be wonderful! Ha, ha...prepare yourself...you stupid little girl..."

* * *

After searching high and low, Ib and the others find the key to a door that they couldn't open before. Ib places the key into the lock, and it clicks into place. "It works."

"Stand back, Ib." Evelyn commands, leading her away from the door. "I'll go first."

Slowly and carefully, Evelyn turns the knob and opens the door. She looks inside and sees a short hallway stretching from left to right. "It seems safe." The three of them walk through as Evelyn sighs. "And yet another hallway." she says with a dejected tone. She looks to both sides. "When are we going to find anything useful? ...Hm?" Evelyn takes notice of the painting on the wall facing them, and approaches it. "Hm..._Flowers of Jealousy_."

The cloaked man turns his head quickly. "What!?"

"Not one of my favorites..."

"Ah!" Ib's head flashes with images of a flower growing bigger and bigger, and another of Mary pulling her away from a series of vines. "Miss Evelyn, watch out!"

"Hm?" Evelyn turns away from the painting just as a flower begins to grow out of it. "What's wrong?"

"Evelyn!" Without thinking, the man pushes Evelyn out of the way and pulls Ib to his side.

"Wah!" Evelyn falls to the ground just as vines grow rapidly out of the ground, creating a large, thick wall between her and the others. "Oh, no..." she whispers. "No, no, no, no...!" she quickly gets up and begins to pull on the vines, and she soon realizes that they are not ordinary vines. Still desperately pulling at them, she calls out. "Oh, god...Ib! Ib, can you hear me!? IB!"

"Miss Evelyn!" Ib yells in response. "Are you okay!?"

Evelyn lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness...Ib, these things are made of stone! I can't break them!"

"Evelyn, it's going to be all right." the man says. "Is he with you?"

"Huh? Who?"

"I think he's talking about me." The tiny ant crawls out of the pocket of Evelyn's coat.

"Ah! You've been in there this whole time?" Evelyn asks.

"Yep. And it's a good thing, too. Otherwise, you'd probably be stuck here by yourself."

"Evelyn," the man says loudly. "You have to listen to me. We won't be able to meet again for some time. These separate paths lead us into completely different rooms."

"What!?" Evelyn yells. "But Ib...! I'm not leaving her!"

"Don't worry. The tasks ahead may be difficult, but there's no other way. But I promise you that we will find our way back to each other. You have to trust me."

Evelyn's face grows concerned. She knows deep down that there's something about that man that she's unsure of. She tries and fails once more to break the stone vines, then sighs. "...If Ib gets hurt at all..."

"Don't worry," he says. "I will protect her with my life."

"She'll be fine." says the ant. "Now let's go, Evelyn. We've got our own matters to attend to now. There's a locked door at the end of this hallway. Once we open in, that's when the fun starts."

Evelyn tightens her hands slightly. "I'm going now. Be careful, you two!"

"Ah! Miss Evelyn, wa-" Before Ib can say anything more, a jolt of pain strikes her head, causing her to collapse.

"Ib!" The man catches Ib before she can hit the ground. "Are you all right?"

Ib grabs her head, as she remembers someone saying the same exact words Evelyn just said. She can't remember the person's face, but she knows it's not Mary. "_Who...are you?_" she thinks. Before she can remember, she hears the sound of footsteps quickly moving away from her, and she remembers where she is. "Miss Evelyn..."

"You're worried about her, aren't you? Don't worry, Ib. My little friend is with her. In this world, he's probably the best one to be stuck with. And besides, she's matured in leaps and bounds since she's been here. That may be because of you, Ib."

"Me?"

"Yes. You've made it out of here once before. That is a near impossible feat. The only reason she is able to move forward now is because you've given her that drive. That's what is admirable about you, Ib. You are able to give the one thing that this place is devoid of."

"What's that?" Ib asks.

"Hope. Now...come on up." the man carefully brings Ib back to her feet. "We've got to keep moving ourselves. Be diligent, little Ib. It's just the three of us now."

"...Two."

"What?"

"You said it's just the three of us." Ib says. "It's just you and me. We're two."

"...Yes, of course. I misspoke. Let's be off then, Ib." They both begin to walk down the hallway. The man looks behind them briefly and spies a yellow handprint forming on the wall near the vines before facing forward again.

* * *

"I gotta say, Evelyn, you got through that pretty fast." the ant says. "I'm impressed."

"Hm! I thought so, too!" Evelyn states proudly. "After that whole Council business, I can handle anything Guertena throws at us!"

"_It was almost _too _fast..._" the ant thinks, but he discards the thought for now. "I like your enthusiasm!" he says out loud to Evelyn. "Turn here. You shouldn't have a problem with this next one."

"What do we have to do here?"

"There are seven little balls of paint. All we need to do is find them. Behind this door room is where we have to put them all, and the seven pillars on which they'll be placed."

"Only seven? Sounds easy enough." Evelyn opens the door and walks in. "Well then, let's get star...HUH!?"

"What!?" the ant yells in surprise. "When did this happen!?" The two look on in complete shock at the large room. Inside it are a number of pillars; ten rows and ten columns. There are 100 pillars in total.

Evelyn's lips begin to quiver. "This...THIS IS WAY MORE THAN SEVEN!"


	9. Chapter 9

Ib walks briskly down the hallway, not stopping for one moment. Eventually, she runs into a row of four doors. She opens the first door, and inside it is a room that's raining. The fact that it was raining indoors didn't surprise her. On the opposite side of the room was what looked like a small wooden box identical to the ones that held the rose petals she needed. But before she goes in, she takes notice of the rain. Instead of clear, the rain that is falling is a deep purple. She looks over to several busts next to the wall that have eroded severely. Ib concludes that it'd be better not to go inside without something to protect them. "This room isn't safe." she says to the man, and she continues walking.

The cloaked man paces steadily behind her, his eyes fixed on the girl. He made a promise that no harm would come to the girl, and he intended to keep it. But her pace was making it increasingly difficult for him to keep up with her. "Are you tired, Ib? Maybe we ought to rest."

"I'm fine." Ib says, not breaking her stride.

"Are you sure? I told you that Evelyn would be fine. And if we don't take our time, we might..." Ignoring him completely, she opens up the next door and enters the room. "Ib, wait!"

Inside, she finds a glass container atop a table in the center of the room. Other than that, the room is empty. Carefully Ib steps inside, looking around for any traps. When she reaches the container, she examines it. The only thing inside is a small sphere of white light. Below it is a small sign. "Question one for a rainy day...how many points are there?" Ib reads out loud. Next to the sign is a set of four numbers meant for a combination. Ib couldn't remember any numbers that might help, so she decided to turn around. Waiting for her at the door was the cloaked man.

"Ib, I told you that we ought to slow down."

"Sorry. I'll try to..." Before she can finish her sentence, she takes a step forward and the floor beneath her foot gives away. "Ah!"

"Ib!" Before Ib can fall, the man lunges forward and grabs her hand. "Gah!" The pull is almost enough to tear his arm right off, but he manages to hold. "Urgh...I-Ib! Are you okay!?"

Ib slowly nods before looking down below. At the very bottom of the hole are several bloody spikes. That was enough for Ib as she began to pull herself up. The man did the same, and Ib soon comes completely out of the pit. They both lay flat on the floor exhausted.

The man pants heavily. "It's...been a while since I've had to exert myself that much... Are you all right, Ib?"

Ib catches her breath as well. "I'm fine. Thank you." She picks herself up and looks down into the pit into which she nearly fell to her doom. At the very bottom, spikes are decorated with blood and bones. Ib counts them one by one. "Five...six...seven. Ah!" Realizing something, Ib looks back to the riddle on the sign in front of her. "How many points...hey, I figured something out!" She makes her way to the man's side and picks him up. Despite the heavy cloak covering him, Ib found him surprisingly light. "That case over there needs a passcode. We have to go to the other rooms to get the rest of the numbers."

"All right. Let's be careful, Ib. There may be other traps like this one."

* * *

Evelyn pants heavily. "Okay..." Evelyn slowly makes her way to another door. Inside is a desk in-between two bookshelves. On the desk are three small balls of paint. "Aha!" Evelyn rushes over to them and taps each of them once with her finger. Immediately they begin to fade and soon, they're vanished without a trace. "Whew! That's three more down!"

"We've collected a lot of paint balls so far," The ant says, pacing across Evelyn's shoulders. "At this rate, we should find the rest in no time!"

"It helps that a lot of them are together already so we're not just finding them one at a time. This ought to be easier than I thought!" Evelyn goes to one of the bookshelves, examining the titles carefully. "Now let's see...do you know if any of these books would help?"

"I know my way around this place, but I've never stopped to take a reading break."

"Oh, dear...I guess I'll just have to look through them myself." Evelyn traces her finger along each book, reading each title aloud. "_The Witch's House...Mad Father...Dream Diary..._hm_...A Girl's Last Days..._" Evelyn takes out the book and opens it up, skimming through the pages. She scans her eyes across the pictures and notices the unique appearance of the little girl. When she reaches the last page, Evelyn immediately freezes up.

"What is it?" the ant asks. The ant looks over to the book and sees the last page. It shows nothing but a girl collapsed on the floor, her motionless body midst a pitch-black nothingness. "Oh, dear..."

"Ib..." Evelyn whispered in a low voice. "I hope she's okay..."

"I'm sure she's just fine. She's in good hands. He won't let a thing happen to her."

Evelyn sighs. "I know...and it's not like I don't trust you, but...we just have no idea who he could possibly be. Was he in the museum with us? And if not, how did he get here? Why does he keep his face hidden like that? There are still just so many questions..."

"I can understand your concern. He's not the most sociable person to be around."

Evelyn looks to the little ant on her shoulder. "And what about you?"

"Me?" the ant asks.

"Why do you want to help us? You're just a painting. What's _your _motive?"

The ant remains silent as his antennae flicker about. "You want to know the truth?"

"Yes."

"I...I want to save this place."

Evelyn raises her eyebrow. "Save it?"

"This didn't used to be the worst place in the world. Sure it was dark and gloomy, and it did get lonely sometimes. But for the most part, the paintings here were all right. I guess you could say we were happy." The ant chuckled. Even he knew that was a strange thing to say. "...But that all changed after Ib showed up five years ago. "

"Five years ago!?" Evelyn exclaimed. "She was that young when she first came here?"

"That's right. After she came and went, it all went downhill. That guy...he started going crazy. He went on and on about Ib and the real world."

"You're talking about Weiss Guertena again, aren't you?"

The ant didn't acknowledge Evelyn's question and continued. "Some of the paintings liked what he had to say. Others didn't. So we chose sides. A lot of the paintings went with him. Some stayed out of it. The rest, well...there aren't a lot of those left."

"What do you mean?"

"He took them somewhere. Someplace secret that not even I can find. I don't know what happened to them after that."

"That's...That's horrible..." A few tears run down Evelyn's face. "I had misjudged you all this time and I never knew. I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault. How could you have known? But your kind words mean a lot. Thank you."

Evelyn wipes her tears away. "So...you're here because you want to stop Guertena and fix what he's done?"

"In any way I can. When Guertena passed away, it was on bad terms with the rest of the world. With you guys here, it might be possible to right the wrongs that created this place and just maybe...Guertena can find peace."

Evelyn smiles softly, her fears and doubts quelled. "So that man must feel the same way."

"More than anyone..." It's difficult for ants to physically express emotions. Even if they could, it would be difficult for normal humans to notice it, especially a middle-aged and far-sighted woman. But Evelyn thought she could see traces of a melancholy frown on the ant's face.

"We should get going, Evelyn. No time to lose."

"...Right." Evelyn makes her way to the door when suddenly, she hears a thud from behind her. "Eek!" Evelyn turns around to see that a book had fallen from one of the shelves. She quickly goes to pick it up. "What's this?" She opens to the first page.

_Today I made two new friends. We played together and we had fun. But then one of them had to go. The other one fell asleep. He won't wake up. I was sad..._

"This...This is Guertena's handwriting!"

"What!?" the ant exclaims. "Check if there's a date!"

"Date, date...this was written...today. On this day, five years ago..."

The ant's antennae begin to quiver madly. "This is a diary! He kept a diary! Evelyn, this is perfect! We can find out exactly what his plans are, where he is...everything!"

"What should we do, then?"

"You're a speed reader, right? Read everything. Right now."

"...Right!" Evelyn shifts her eyes back into the book.

* * *

"Seven...five...two...six." Ib enters the combination into the lock. With a click, the case opens. "Hah!" Ib takes the small light carefully into her hands. "For a rainy day...what could that mean?"

"Good work, Ib," the man says. "Now why don't we..." Before he can finish, Ib runs out of the room to find what she needs, even if she doesn't know what it is. "Ah, wait, Ib! Why don't we take a little break? Just for five minutes..." the man asks as he begins to trail behind Ib. "I...could really use one..."

Ib stops and turns to him. Her mind was urging her to keep going, but her body was already trying very hard not to give into fatigue. "Maybe you're right."

The cloaked man breathes heavily. "Thank you..." He begins to stumble over to the wall close to him and leans into it, sliding down onto the floor.

Ib quickly rushes over to him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm just...a little tired. I haven't moved around like this in ages."

"Really?" She looks down to the man's hands, that seemed old and worn. She noticed the same thing about his cloak. She hesitated before asking him, "...How long have you been here?"

He chuckles heavily, and Ib can't tell whether he thought it was funny or not. "Honestly...I can't even remember. It was so long ago...or at least it feels that way."

"How did you get here?" The man sits still and says nothing. Ib immediately decides to change the subject.

"How were you able to survive this long?"

"Just stay out of the way...don't cause any trouble...don't get near any of the dangerous ones...food isn't a problem once you're in here. I haven't eaten in...a very long time."

Ib frowns. "That's horrible..."

"You don't need to feel bad for me, little one. I am not a man who deserves sympathy. But thank you." The man looks up to the work of art. "Have you seen this one, Ib? It's called _Lady With Her Umbrella_."

Ib thinks for a moment, and she remembers a room she was in that started raining. "I have. It was in a different place than I remember it, though."

"It's one of my favorites. Guertena painted it after a story he heard about a woman whose husband was on a journey overseas. Every day, she waited for her husband's return from morning until noon, not knowing that he died during a storm on the way back. And for however long she would wait, it would rain without fail. She kept waiting until eventually, she grew old and died."

"Really?" Ib stared at the painting, not knowing whether she thought the story behind it was sad or not. Then she turned back to the man. "I kind of like that story."

Hidden under the man's cloak was an excited smile. "I agree! Many people think that it's a story of tragedy. But that's not how Guertena saw it. He saw it as one of true love and devotion, and one's faith in the person they love that soars above all odds. I'm surprised, Ib. You have a very good artistic eye."

Ib smiles. "My parents love art. They would take me to museums all the time as a little kid, and I've loved art ever since. I'm even president of the art club at my school."

"That's very impressive, Ib! Do you wish to be an artist as well?"

"Yeah." For a moment Ib thinks. Then she turns away from the man. "I mean...I think so. A lot of people say that my work is a lot like Guertena's, and that always made me happy. But now..." Ib begins to recall everything she's been through, and she begins to curl up. "Now I'm not so sure. What if...what if I become like him? What if I start going crazy like he did? What if I create some twisted fantasy world that innocent people wander into?" She buries her head into her knees and slowly begins to tear up. "I don't want to be like that..."

"Ib...I can tell that you have a very kind heart. From the moment we've met, you've been so caring for the rest of us. Guertena was...not like that. I assure you that you are nothing like him. In fact..." the man gently lifts Ib's head up. "I'm sure if he had someone like you by his side, he would have been a different man. A better one. So don't you cry."

"I...I won't." Ib says as she begins to smile. "Thank you." As she smiles, the white light cradled in her hands begins to float, much to their surprise, and shoots into the painting in front of them.

"Ah!" They both cover their eyes and a bright light shines in front of them. Soon the light dissipates as Ib and the cloaked man open their eyes. They immediately noticed that the painting has changed. Now the woman no longer has her umbrella, and is instead embracing a man at the edge of the cliff. Rested against the wall underneath the painting is the red umbrella.

"Hah! Look!" Ib takes the umbrella. "This is it! We can get the rose petal now!" She turns to the man with a huge smile on her face.

"That's wonderful! Good work, Ib!"

"Hee-hee!" Ib looks into the man's hood, trying to make out his face, and she slowly becomes lost in thought. She can tell that there is a very kind smile shrouded by the hood, and she wants to see it. Slowly she lifts her hand to the hood and begins to remove it. But as soon as she does, her hand falls. Her eyes begin to weigh down on her. Her body has held out for as long as possible, and now it has reached its limit. She begins to faint, and falls to lean on the man's shoulder.

"Poor Ib...it's a good thing we decided to stop now." The man takes Ib under his tattered cloak. "Rest for now, and try to have a nice dream. I promise I that I will protect you until you wake up."

* * *

Evelyn slowly closes the book and clutches it in her hands. "He's insane," she manages to whisper. "Guertena is a madman..."

"We need to find Ib." the ant says grimly. "She needs to know about this. If we can't get to her, we won't be the only ones in trouble."

"I know. How many more balls of paint do we have left?"

"About forty."

"We don't have time to waste." Evelyn hurries out of the room.

* * *

Ib...

Ib finds herself once again in a gray room, but it's different than before. The room is charred and destroyed, and remnants of a great fire smolder around her.

IB...

Ib gasps as something grabs a hold of her leg. She immediately looks down and is horrified when she sees the charred remains of a young girl clinging desperately to Ib, her golden hair set alight by the flames. The girl looks up to Ib, revealing a horribly disfigured face.

_IB!_

* * *

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Ib snaps awake and the man quickly takes hold of her as she begins to panic.

"Ib! Ib, it's all right! I'm here! There's nothing to be afraid of!"

It takes Ib some time, but she eventually begins to calm down. Her breathing and the shaking in her hands begin to slow down.

"It looks like you had a bad dream."

Ib slowly opens her mouth to speak. "I...I did...but I can't remember anymore...why can't I remember...?"

"It's all right now," the man says calmly. "It's over. Now, I think thirty minutes enough time to rest. Let's keep going."

"...Okay. Thank you."

"No need to thank me for anything. Come now." The man walks down the hallway towards the room they need to be in. Ib begins to follow as she hears a light pinging sound.

"That sound again..." Ib opens up her backpack, fishes out the sketchbook, and opens it. Inside, she finds that yet another sketch has appeared. This time, it's one of Lady With Her Umbrella. "Another sketch..."

"Ib! Don't fall behind!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Ib places the book back and catches up with the cloaked man. Ib opens up the umbrella and they both enter the room. They make their way towards the glass case containing the wooden box, the umbrella shielding the completely along the way. Ib places the password into the lock and with a confirming click, it opens without effort and it slowly stops raining. Ib sets the umbrella aside and takes out the box.

"One more," Ib whispers, hope filling her voice. "Just one more, and this nightmare will be over. And then we can all go home...me...Miss Evelyn...you..." she turns to the cloaked man, who doesn't react. "And I can finally see you again...Mary..."

The name makes the man freeze up. "Wait, Ib! Did you just say-"

Ib doesn't hear him as she opens up the box, revealing the familiar red light and the petal inside. Before she can even fully open it, however, the petal shoots out like a bullet straight into Ib.

"Ah...aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Ib drops the box and collapses to the ground, clutching her head. Memories begin to flow back into her mind. Memories of the close friend that she came to this world to rescue. But the memories of her are not pleasant. She remembers a crushed mannequin head and a palette knife. She remembers blue eyes wide with insanity staring daggers into her. And she remembers the painting of a girl with blonde hair in a green dress. She remembers Mary.

"Ib!" the man grabs her shoulders. "What did you remember!?"

Ib's eyes are wide with shock. "M-Mary..."

"Is Mary really the person you came here to save!? Ib, do you know who she is!?_ What she is!?_"

"Mary...she's a...she's a...and I..._I..._!"

A faint, raspy voice whispers from behind them. "So you finally remember me..."

"What!?" The man turns around to see a little girl staring back at them. "Damn...so it really _was _you..."

"Wh-Who are you talking to..." Ib turns as well and sees her. She sees the girl whose body is charred, her blonde hair covering her face. And she remembers the nightmares. "M...Mary..."

"It's been a long time...Ib." She raises a hand in the air, and Ib meets a familiar sight. A black orb appears from Mary's hand that grows larger and larger, eventually reaching them. The orb shrinks back into thin air. Nothing is left behind.


End file.
